Frank family
The Frank family at Merwedeplein in front of their house, 1941
When Hitler comes to power in 1933, the Frank family emigrates to the Netherlands. Here too they are concerned about the threat of Nazism. So from 1937 Otto tries to set up a business in England and in 1938 he applies for a visa at the American consulate in Rotterdam.
Both attempts come to nothing. After the German invasion in 1940 the Frank family make another attempt to go to the United States. American friends and Edith’s brothers, who have already succeeded in fleeing to the States, help them.
This attempt fails too. When the Franks become stateless at the end of 1941 and the United States also becomes involved in the war, there’s nowhere left to go. Six months later they go into hiding in the annexe.