Anne Frank House

The building at Prinsengracht 263 was originally constructed in 1635 by Dirk van Delft and served as a private residence and later a warehouse. In 1940, Otto Frank moved his company, Opekta, into the premises. As the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands intensified and the persecution of Jewish citizens grew more severe, Otto prepared a hidden living space in the rear extension of the building, known as the Achterhuis or Secret Annex. In July 1942, the Frank family went into hiding there, joined later by the van Pels family and Fritz Pfeffer. For over two years, the group lived in total silence during the day, aided by a small group of loyal employees who provided food and news from the outside world. Anne Frank, the youngest daughter, documented their daily lives, fears, and hopes in a red-checkered diary that would eventually become one of the most widely read books in history. The hiding place was discovered by the Gestapo on August 4, 1944, leading to the arrest and deportation of all eight occupants to concentration camps. Only Otto Frank survived the Holocaust. After returning to Amsterdam and receiving Anne's diary from Miep Gies, he worked tirelessly to publish her writings. The Anne Frank House was established as a museum in 1960 to preserve the Secret Annex and to educate the world about the dangers of antisemitism and discrimination, serving as a powerful memorial to Anne and all victims of the Shoah.