Anne Frank

June 12, 2024

Fast Facts
Background
Career Timeline
Why We Love
Surprising Facts
FAQs

Anne Frank, known globally for her diary, “The Diary of a Young Girl/ The Diary of Anne Frank,” was born on June 12, 1929, in Frankfurt am Main, Hesse state, Germany. Frank was a Jewish girl, and her family mainly lived in Amsterdam, Netherlands, after moving there when she was four and a half. When the German occupation of the Netherlands began, Frank and her family went into hiding. At 13 years old, she received a red-and-white plaid diary for her birthday, and in that diary is where she gave an account of life in hiding for two years — June 1942 to early August 1944.

Fast Facts

Full Name:

Annelies Marie Frank

Nickname:

Anne

Birth date:

June 12, 1929

Death date:

March 12, 1945 (age 15)

Zodiac Sign:

Gemini

Height:

5' 5"

Net Worth:

$1.5 million

Background

Anne Frank was born Annelies Marie Frank in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. At four and a half, Anne and her family moved to Amsterdam, Netherlands. Her father, Otto Frank (1889 to 1980), took his wife and Frank’s other sister there as they fled the Nazi regime of Adolf Hitler in Germany. However, in 1941, German forces made their way to the Netherlands and occupied it. Before that, Frank had been going to a public school, Sixth Montessori School, but was compelled to transfer to a Jewish one. Her older sister, Margot, had been attending Jewish Lyceum, which is where Frank had to go.

On her 13th birthday, Frank received a gift — an autograph book, which had a small lock on the front, bound by a red and white cloth. Frank decided that she would use her gift as a diary and her first entry, on June 20, 1942, read, “I hope I will be able to confide everything to you, as I have never been able to confide in anyone, and I hope you will be a great source of comfort and support.” The following month, Frank and her family were forced to go into hiding. The hiding place they chose was a landing above the Opekta offices. There was a three-story space there and right behind the backroom office, Frank’s father had a food-products business. Luckily he had non-Jewish friends who would help him and his family get food and any supplies they needed.

Frank wrote in her diary faithfully, reflecting on all the annoyances she had, how she was afraid to be captured, and all the hopes she had for the future. Frank wanted to become a journalist and a writer, and she wrote down all of this in her diary. Unfortunately, on August 4, 1944, the Gestapo, who were the secret police of Nazi Germany, discovered the secret annex, and Frank and her family moved to Auschwitz where they worked at a labor camp for women while Otto was in a men’s camp. In November, Frank and her sister were transported to Bergen-Belsen, a concentration camp, but unfortunately, they contracted typhus, and both girls succumbed to the disease. Only Otto’s father was left alive after the Russians liberated him from Auschwitz. He read Frank’s diary, and his friends convinced him to have it published. Her diary was later not only published but also translated into over 70 languages. “The Diary of a Young Girl/ The Diary of Anne Frank” is a global read and a classic of war literature.

Career timeline

1947

Frank’s Diary is Published

Frank’s diary is saved and becomes a global read, touching the hearts of many.

1956

She Gains an Audience

In the Netherlands, Frank’s book is staged as a play, and people come to see it, including Prince Bernhard and Queen Juliana.

1959

Her Book Becomes a Film

The film “1959” premieres in New York after Hacket and Goodrich write the screenplay, with George Stevens as the director.

1959

She Wins an Oscar

The “1959” film wins three Oscar Awards.

2000

She Wins an Honorary Award

Frank receives an award posthumously from the World’s Children’s Prize.

Why We Love Anne Frank

She never gave up on a bright future
Frank spoke about her aspirations as a journalist and writer. Amidst everything that was happening around her at the time, she still wanted to have a better future to realize her dreams.
Her diary
We love how it evokes emotions. It is a poignant piece of work that also raises the issues of discrimination, which society needs to address and end.
She was courageous
Frank was herself. In her writing and her thoughts, she showed courage and even wrote about owning her true self in her diary.

5 Surprising Facts

Her diary had a name
Frank’s diary was called Kitty.
Her nickname
Frank’s real name was Annelies Marie Frank.
Frank’s cat
Apart from kitty the diary, Frank had an actual cat, Moortje, who she was forced to leave behind after the invasion by the Nazis, to the same friend she gave the cat.
Their family house still stands
Frank and her family lived in a two-floored house when she was born and later moved to another area two years later — both houses they lived in still stand to this day.
She had her tree
Frank used to see a certain tree while hiding in the secret annex — she wrote about the tree in her diary, and The Sapling Project 2009 began planting saplings in her honor.