August 4
Gestapo Arrests Anne Frank and Family
A tip from an informant led Nazi authorities to the hidden annex where the Frank family and four others had evaded deportation for more than two years.
Summary
In occupied Amsterdam, the Frank family and four others had hidden in a secret annex behind Otto Frank's business since 1942 to escape Nazi persecution of Jews. A Dutch informant tipped off the Gestapo. On August 4, 1944, German officers raided the warehouse, discovered the annex, and arrested all eight occupants. They were deported to concentration camps. Only Otto Frank survived the war. Anne's diary, preserved by a helper, was later published and became a global testament to the Holocaust.
Context
By the summer of 1944, German forces had occupied the Netherlands for four years, imposing increasingly severe restrictions on the Jewish population. Deportations to concentration and extermination camps had accelerated after 1942, prompting thousands of Jews to seek concealment with the aid of non-Jewish neighbors and colleagues. Otto Frank, a German-born businessman who had relocated his family to Amsterdam in 1933, prepared a concealed living space behind his pectin and spice trading company at Prinsengracht 263.
What Happened
On the morning of August 4, a warm Friday, several uniformed officers arrived at the warehouse. Led by Austrian SS Oberscharführer Karl Josef Silberbauer and accompanied by Dutch policemen, the group questioned employees before ordering one of them, Victor Kugler, to reveal the entrance to the secret annex concealed behind a movable bookcase. The eight occupants—Otto and Edith Frank, their daughters Margot and Anne, Hermann and Auguste van Pels, their son Peter, and Fritz Pfeffer—were taken into custody along with Kugler and another helper, Johannes Kleiman.
Aftermath
The prisoners were first held at the Sicherheitsdienst headquarters in Amsterdam for interrogation and then transferred to a local prison. Within weeks they were deported by train to the Westerbork transit camp and, in early September, onward to Auschwitz-Birkenau. There the men and women were separated; most of the annex group perished in the camps over the following months.
Legacy
Otto Frank, liberated from Auschwitz in January 1945, returned to Amsterdam and received his daughter’s diary, which had been preserved by helper Miep Gies. First published in Dutch in 1947 and later translated into dozens of languages, the diary became one of the most widely read personal accounts of life under Nazi persecution. The Anne Frank House museum, established in the original building, continues to draw visitors seeking insight into individual experiences during the Holocaust and the consequences of collaboration and resistance.
Why It Matters
The arrest exemplifies the systematic Nazi hunt for hidden Jews and the role of collaborators. Anne Frank's diary humanized the victims of the Holocaust for millions of readers and supports ongoing education about genocide and resistance.
Related Questions
Who informed on the people in the secret annex?
The identity of the informant remains unknown; historical investigations have not produced conclusive evidence identifying any single individual.
How long had the group been in hiding before the arrest?
The Franks entered the annex in July 1942; the arrest occurred more than two years later, in August 1944.
What happened to the diary after the raid?
Miep Gies retrieved the notebooks and papers from the annex floor and kept them safe until Otto Frank’s return after the war.
Which members of the annex group survived the war?
Only Otto Frank survived; all seven others perished in concentration camps.
Where is the secret annex located today?
The building at Prinsengracht 263 in Amsterdam now houses the Anne Frank House museum, open to the public.
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Sources
- August 4, Wikipedia. Accessed 2026-07-02.
- The secret annex in Amsterdam where Anne Frank and seven others were hiding was discovered by the Gestapo, Britannica. Accessed 2026-07-02.