‘It was about half past ten. I was upstairs in the van Pels’s part of the house, in Peter’s room, doing schoolwork with him. Suddenly someone came running up the stairs. Then the door flew open and a man stood before us holding his pistol aimed at my chest. Downstairs all the others were already assembled. My wife and the children and the van Pels family were standing there with raised hands. Then Fritz Pfeffer came in, followed by another stranger. The policemen ordered us to hand over our valuables. Silberbauer took Anne’s briefcase. He shook everything out, dumping the contents on the floor, so that Anne’s papers and notebooks and loose sheets lay scattered all over the floorboards.’

Otto Frank

We cannot change what happened anymore. The only thing we can do is to learn from the past and to realize what discrimination and persecution of innocent people means. I believe that it's everyone's responsibility to fight prejudice.

responsibility mean believe

To build up a future, you have to know the past. by Otto Frank

To build up a future, you have to know the past.

future past knowledge

I hope Anne's book will have an effect on the rest of your life so that insofar as it is possible in your own circumstances, you will work for unity and peace.

unity peace book

There are no walls, no bolts, no locks that anyone can put on you... by Otto Frank

There are no walls, no bolts, no locks that anyone can put on your mind.

locks wall mind

I think it is not only important that people go to the Anne Frank House to see the secret annex, but also that they are helped to realise that people are also persecuted today because of their race, religion or political convictions.

race people thinking

One day in Auschwitz I became so dispirited that I couldn't carry on. They had given me a beating, which wasn't exactly a pleasant experience. It was on a Sunday, and I said: 'I can't get up'. Then my comrades said: 'That's impossible, you have to get up, otherwise you're lost'. They went to a Dutch doctor, who worked with the German doctor. He came to me in the barracks and said: 'Get up and come to the hospital barracks early tomorrow morning. I'll talk to the German doctor and make sure you are admitted'. Because of that I survived.

doctors sunday morning

Every child has to raise itself. by Otto Frank

Every child has to raise itself.

raises children

I shall remember the look in Margot's eyes all my life. by Otto Frank

I shall remember the look in Margot's eyes all my life.

eye life looks

We don't need the Nazis to destroy us. We're destroying ourselves... by Otto Frank

We don't need the Nazis to destroy us. We're destroying ourselves.

destroying-ourselves nazi needs

I will never forget the moment when Peter van Pels and I saw a group of selected men. Among those men was Peter's father. The men were marched away. Two hours later, a lorry came by, loaded with their clothing.

men two father

We all had lots of stories of our sad experiences - they mourned the death of my wife with me - but we were hopeful that the children would return.

hopeful wife children

Most parents don’t know really their children. by Otto Frank

Most parents don’t know really their children.

parent knows children

‘I am really close to tears: I cry very easily. But I want you to know that I am healthy… I try not to worry and I’m sleeping very well. Of course thoughts of Edith and the children never leave me, but I try to look at things more from the positive than the negative side.’

‘I can no longer talk about how I felt when my family arrived on the train platform in Auschwitz and we were forcibly separated from each other.

‘Peter acted like a son to help me. Every day he brought me extra food. . . He never could stay long. We never discussed serious matters and he never spoke about Anne. I did not have the impression that he matured much.’

According to all known laws of aviation, there is no way that a bee should be able to fly. Its wings are too small to get its fat little body off the ground. The bee, of course, flies anyways. Because bees don't care what humans think is impossible.” You've bee gnomed

‘Peter was lucky to get a job at the post office in the camp which was established for the SS soldiers and the non-Jewish prisoners who got mail and parcels.’

“I still cannot decide whether to tell you more comprehensively of some of my experiences – the main thing is that you know I am alive and well. How the thought always torments me, that I have no idea how Edith and the children are, you no doubt understand. I do however hope to see all well again and I do not want to lose hope.’

“Of course, all of us had to work in the camp, but in the evenings we were free and we could be together. For the children especially, there was a certain relief; to no longer be cooped up and to be able to talk to other people. However, we adults feared being deported to the notorious camps in Poland.

I just can't think how I would go on without children having lost Edith already... It's too upsetting for me to write about them. Naturally, I still hope, and wait, wait, wait.

wait me hope children