The short life of Anne Frank

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• History
• Geschiedenis
• Primary Education

Introduction

Anne Frank’s life is turned upside down when the war begins in the Netherlands, and she has to go into hiding in the Secret Annex. This lesson introduces students to Anne Frank and the history of her time. The students study and discuss Anne Frank’s life through interactive assignments, a video, and a timeline. They learn more about the Secret Annex, the lives of the people in hiding, the helpers, and Anne’s diary.

Instructions

You can use this lesson as a starting point for your lessons on the Second World War or to prepare for a visit to the Anne Frank House.

Tip: Watch the video yourself before sharing it with the class.

The short life of Anne Frank

Introduction slide

Introducing the theme.

This lesson introduces you to Anne Frank and the history of her time.

Introduction slide

Brief lesson description for the students.

What do you already know about Anne Frank? 

Activate the students’ prior knowledge. Have them fill in words that come to mind when they think of Anne Frank.

Discuss the answers that have been entered, and have students find connections between them. Drag these together. Which themes do they recognise? Write these at the top, if applicable.

Video duration: 3’12’’

Watch the video with the class. This video introduces the students to Anne Frank and her life.

1929

1933

1940

1942

1944

1945

In New York, the stock market collapsed. It was the start of a global economic crisis.

Anne Frank was born on 12 June 1929 as the second daughter of Otto and Edith Frank. Here you see Edith with Anne, one day after she was born at a hospital in Frankfurt am Main.

Anne, Edith, and Margot Frank in the city centre of Frankfurt am Main.

On 6 July 1942, the Frank family went into hiding in the Secret Annex at Prinsengracht 263. The entrance was hidden behind this revolving bookcase.

Otto Frank with four of the helpers. He was the only one of the eight people from the Secret Annex to return from the Nazi camps. Anne died in the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp.

On 10 May, German soldiers invaded the Netherlands. Rotterdam was bombed four days later. On 15 May, the Dutch army surrendered.

For her 13th birthday, Anne received a diary.

Anne in the 6th grade at the Montessori School in Amsterdam.

Adolf Hitler was the new leader of Germany. He and his Nazi party promised to make Germany a great and strong country.

All of the Netherlands was liberated on 5 May 1945. Therefore, 5 May is known as Liberation Day, a day devoted to freedom.

On 6 June, British soldiers landed on the coast of Normandy (France). The Allies fought the German army (D-Day).

The Nazis persecuted the Jews. From May 1942, all Jews in the Netherlands over six had to wear the yellow Star of David on their clothes.

On 4 August 1944, after more than two years, the eight people hiding in the Secret Annex were discovered. Via Camp Westerbork (Drenthe), Anne and the others were deported to Camp Auschwitz in occupied Poland.

Information slide

The pictures along the 1929-1945 timeline illustrate the developments in the Second World War and Anne Frank’s life. Click on the hot spots for information about any event/picture. By clicking on the pictures, they are shown full-screen.

Additional information: The pictures above the timeline depict moments from Anne Frank’s life. The pictures below the timeline deal with other events from the Second World War. This illustrates how national and international events influenced Anne Frank’s life.

Tip: Start by viewing the images with the students before giving the information from the hot spots. This way, your point of departure is the information students get from the pictures.

The helpers

The people in hiding

Tell the group: We saw in the video that Anne Frank lived in hiding in the Secret Annex with her parents and sister, the Van Pels family, and Fritz Pfeffer. We also learned that five people, the helpers, helped them.

Ask the group: Here, we see family trees with the names of those in hiding and the helpers. Can you match the photos to the names? Take a close look at the pictures; who do you think they are?

Additional information: You can have the students do this assignment individually on their devices or in class on the IWB. You can enlarge the photos to see them better. 

The purpose of this question is to ensure that students get a better idea of who was in hiding in the Secret Annex and who helped them. Putting names to the faces, literally.

On 12 June 1942, Anne celebrated her 13th birthday. One of her gifts was the journal she had picked out herself a few days earlier. She was over the moon about it!

On 14 June 1942, Anne started writing in her diary.

Informational picture

Here you see the table with the gifts Anne Frank received on her 13th birthday. First, briefly discuss what the students see in the picture. Then click on the hot spots for two general facts about Anne Frank’s diary.

Additional information: Don’t give students too much information or go into too much detail about the content at this point. Have students only describe what they see and wonder about. The following five slides go into the meaning of the diary with three interactive questions and an informational picture.

To whom did Anne write her diary letters?

A

Peter

B

Hanneli

C

Kitty

D

Bep

Right answer: C

1

Yes

2

No

Did Anne want to publish her diary as a book?

Right answer: Yes.

Additional information: Explanations can be found on the next slide.

‘Just imagine how interesting it would be if I were to publish a novel about the Secret Annex. The title alone would make people think it was a detective story.’

Anne Frank, Wednesday, 29 March 1944

Informational slide

This quote from Anne Frank answers the question from the previous slide.

What title did Anne come up with for her book?

A

The Hiding Place

B

The Secret Annex

C

Dear Kitty...

D

The Diary of Anne Frank

Right answer: B

Anne also pasted photos and pictures in her diary.

At first, Anne wrote to several imaginary friends (Kitty, Pop, Phien, Conny, Lou, Marjan, Jettje, and Emmy). Eventually, she decided to write only to Kitty.

On 28 March 1944, Anne heard Minister Bolkestein’s appeal on Radio Oranje to hold on to war diaries. His speech inspired Anne: she planned to publish a book about her time in hiding after the war. Anne was very critical of her own writing and started to rewrite her diary in May 1944.

When her diary was full, Anne continued writing in notebooks. In addition to her journal, Anne also wrote tales and collected beautiful sentences in a notebook.

The first thing Anne wrote in her diary was:

 
‘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.’ 

Anne Frank, 12 June 1942

Informational picture

Here you can see Anne Frank’s diary and notebooks.

Click on the hot spots to learn more about Anne Frank’s diary and notebooks.

The main house 

Secret Annex

Prinsengracht 263

Front office

Warehouse

The bookcase

Anne Frank & Fritz Pfeffer’s room

Peter van Pels’s room

Attic

Informational picture

Tell the group: Here, we see a cross-section of Prinsengracht 263. This is where Anne Frank lived in hiding.

Start at the bottom left hot spot: here, you see the building from the street.

Click on the other hot spots to see what the main house and the annex looked like when Anne Frank was hiding there. (The photos show a reconstruction made in 1999.) Nowadays, the rooms in the Anne Frank House are empty.

Tip: If you click on the pictures, they are shown full-screen. Ask the students what they see and notice in the pictures. With the group, extract information from the picture and add the additional information where necessary.

Additional information:

Prinsengracht 263: This is the premises of Otto Frank’s company Opekta.

The front office: The office staff - Miep Gies, Bep Voskuijl, and Johannes Kleiman - worked on the first floor of the main house. Anne was curious and couldn’t resist sometimes going in here to peek out at night.

Warehouse: The warehouse occupied the entire ground floor. The warehouse employees must not notice that there were people in hiding in the Secret Annex. Anne and the others had to be very quiet in the daytime, and they were not allowed to flush the toilet because the water drain ran right through the warehouse.

The bookcase: This revolving bookcase hid the entrance to the Secret Annex. Helper Johan Voskuijl did the carpentry work.

Peter van Pels’s room: Peter was the only one with his own room, of which Anne was quite jealous. The stairs in Peter’s room lead up to the attic of the Secret Annex.

Attic: Anne liked coming here to be alone or to talk to Peter. Here the people in hiding stored their food and hung their laundry to dry.

Anne Frank & Fritz Pfeffer’s room: Anne shared her room with Fritz Pfeffer, a man the same age as her father.

Click on the spinner and answer the question.

Processing slide

What have the students taken away from this lesson?

Spin the spinner by clicking ‘GO!’

You can use the spinner in different ways in the classroom:

Plenary: Click ‘GO!’ and choose one or more students to answer the question.

Plenary (interactive): ask a student to click ‘GO!’ on the IWB and answer the question.

Plenary + groups: Click ‘GO!’ and ask the students first to discuss the question in their group. Then ask a few groups to share their answers with the class.

Additional information: When a question has been answered, click ‘Spin again without ...’. For the application questions, you can leave them in to have other students answer them as well. Go through all the questions.

‘How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world! How wonderful that everyone, young or old, can do their part to bring and give justice!’

Anne Frank, ‘Give!’ (Tale), 26 March 1944

Last slide

A beautiful quote from Anne Frank ends the lesson.