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1944 Discovered and arrested

Going into hiding

Prinsengracht / Brug over Bloemgracht
Prinsengracht / Brug over Bloemgracht
Prinsengracht / Brug over Bloemgracht
Prinsengracht / Brug over Bloemgracht [+] Enlarge map [-] Reduce map
© AVRO

Jan Gies is a witness

Jan Gies is Miep Gies’ husband. When the people in hiding are arrested on 4 August 1944, Miep is able to warn him in time. From a distance he is able to see how they are taken from the secret annex. In the video he talks about what he could see from this position.

Miep Gies works for Anne’s father, Otto Frank. She is a secretary for his business, Opekta. Miep and her husband Jan are two of the helpers who look after the people in hiding in the secret annex. Jan is able to help them by getting ration cards for food.

Discovered

On the day of the arrest, Jan arrives as usual to go to the secret annex, but he’s warned by Miep that the security service are there. Jan leaves straightaway, picks up Jo Kleiman’s (another of the helpers) brother and they stand on the bridge over the Bloemgracht on the other side of the canal. From here they can safely watch what is happening. They see how the people in hiding and helpers Jo Kleiman and Victor Kugler are taken away in a  police truck.

Miep and Bep find the diary

Miep Gies and Bep Voskuijl remain in the office on the Prinsengracht. Later they go into the secret annex and take the personal belongings of the people in hiding, including Anne Frank’s diary papers, for safekeeping.

 

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Going into hiding

People go into hiding to protect themselves from the German occupier. Between 1942 and 1943 it’s mainly Jews who go into hiding; but, later more and more young men do so too in order to avoid being sent to work in Germany. Resistance members and strikers often also go into hiding.

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1938 Many Jewish refugees after Kristallnacht

Many Jewish refugees flee to the Netherlands after Kristallnacht. Princess Juliana also feels connected to the Jewish community. But while more attention is drawn to the admittance of more Jews, NSB members threaten more intervention.

1938  Many Jewish refugees after Kristallnacht

1940 Amsterdam occupied

Nothing changes too much for the Frank family in the beginning. Opekta moves to the Prinsengracht. During air raids bombs cause death and injury in Amsterdam.

1940  Amsterdam occupied

1941 Jews allowed to do and less

It starts with a cinema ban but rapidly Jews are banned from virtually all public places. Jewish children must attend separate schools. This also applies to Anne and Margot Frank.

1941  Jews allowed to do and less

1942 It becomes more dangerous for Jews

On her thirteenth birthday Anne Frank receives a diary. A few days later she writes about the situation in Amsterdam. The introduction of the Jewish star and the raids. In July the Frank family goes into hiding.

1942  It becomes more dangerous for Jews

1943 Deportations and attacks

While the Frank family is in hiding thousands of Jews are deported from Amsterdam. The resistance tries to hinder the deportations by attacks including one on the Public Registry. It doesn’t stop them.

1943  Deportations and attacks

1944 Discovered and arrested

On 4 August the people in hiding in the secret annex are discovered and arrested. From Westerbork they are taken to Auschwitz. When the Allies land in the south of the Netherlands there is hope that the country will be liberated. German soldiers and NSB members flee the country after Dolle Dinsdag (‘Mad Tuesday’).

1944  Discovered and arrested

1945 Joy and sadness

A celebration at the Dam on 7 May is ruined when people are killed after German soldiers shoot at the crowd. On 8 May Amsterdam is officially liberated. Otto Frank returns. He knows that Edith is dead. He only hears later that his two daughters have not survived.

1945  Joy and sadness

1946 Slowly the threads are picked up again

On 3 May 1946 the first official commemoration for those who died during the war is held. Anne Frank’s diary is published on 25 June 1947. Life in Amsterdam slowly gets back to normal. Of the 70,000 Jews who lived in the city in 1940 only 10,000 have survived the war.

1946  Slowly the threads are picked up again

1950 Lasting memory

Even five years after the liberation the reverberations from the war are still clearly noticeable. The Jewish community thanks Amsterdam for the help given to Jews with a monument.

1950  Lasting memory
  • 1950

  • To those who protected the Dutch Jews during the years of the occupation. Protected by your love. Encouraged by your resistance. Mourning with you.

    Part of the citation on the monument ‘Jewish Gratitude’
  • picture:Once a year, two minutes silence

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