She is perhaps the most well-known victim of the Holocaust. She is the subject of books, plays, and movies. Now new research indicates that Anne Frank may not have been betrayed to the Nazis—but instead captured by chance.
Annelies Marie Frank was born in 1929. She and her family hid from the Nazis from 1942-1944. But they were discovered. Both Anne and her sister Margot died in a World War II concentration camp, shortly before the camp was liberated. Anne was just 15 years old.
Anne’s fame is based on the publication of her diary, The Diary of a Young Girl. She wrote it while in hiding. Anne’s father Otto survived the Holocaust. He had the diary published after the war.
The Anne Frank House museum in Amsterdam released a new study. Their research found no clear evidence that the Frank family was purposely betrayed to the Germans.
Ronald Leopold, Executive Director of the museum, says the research shows “that other scenarios should also be considered.”
For example, “During their day-to-day activities, investigators . . . often came across Jews in hiding by chance,” Leopold says.
Otto Frank managed the Opekta pectin and spice company before he went into hiding. Dutch records show that Nazis arrested two employees of that company in 1944. Martin Brouwer and Pieter Daatzelaar were suspected of dealing in illegal food ration cards.
Anne’s diary mentions the arrests. “B. and D. have been caught,” she wrote on March 14, 1944, “so we have no coupons.” The men were released. Did they reveal the Franks’ location for their own freedom? Some speculate about those men as well as others, but there is no proof.
The museum now says there’s another possibility. The raid may have been part of an investigation into illegal workers—Dutch people trying to avoid getting sent to Germany.
“A company where people were working illegally and two sales representatives were arrested for dealing in ration coupons obviously ran the risk of attracting the attention of the authorities,” the report says.
The museum believes further research is needed. “Clearly, the last word about that fateful summer day in 1944 has not yet been said,” reads the report.
Miep Gies worked at Opekta. She kept Anne’s diary safe until giving it to Otto Frank. Gies never thought Anne should symbolize all Holocaust victims. But she believed Anne’s story “helps us grasp the immense loss the world suffered because of the Holocaust.”
