In my literature class this year we are reading the Diary of Anne Frank and my teacher gave us a page of background information. It says that they were turned in by a “Dutch informant.” Has anyone ever identified who that was? I assume that they were probably was still around when the diary was published and became famous enough that everyone knew where the building was, so they must have realized that they were partly responsible for the death of the girl who wrote the book. If he or she hasn’t been identified, who are the most liekly people to have done it?
A business associate of Otto Frank, Anton Ahlers, has been speculatedd to be the informant.
From here:
But another website has this to say:
A google searcg on: “Anne Frank” informant will get you much.
I visited the Anne Frank house in Amsterdam a year ago, the tour guide said that there is no reliable evidence who it was.
I read the diary some time ago, but I distinctly remember there having been a new worker or manager at the building in which the Franks lived. According to the diary, he seemed suspicious of some type of illegal activity going on. I think that he may have been the informant. I’d have to check the diary for more details, though.
After the war, didn’t Otto Frank actually confront the man whom he suspected of informing to the Nazis?
I suppose I need to reread the book, it’s been years but I always thought that it was the burglar/intruder to the business outside the annex. I felt he was likely caught later and gave up the hiding place as a bribe or something.
I recommend you read Meip Gies’ autobiography. She clearly had more insight into the outer office situation than either the hidden families or later researchers could ever have.
IIRC, she stated in the book that they had a suspicion of one guy in particular, but no evidence. She didn’t name any names, though, so unless somebody confesses tomorrow or actual Nazi documents on it are uncovered, it will just have to remain in the realm of speculation.
I recommend her book to anyone interested in Anne Frank. It’s a very profound story of the occupation, the constant danger of discovery, and her own difficulties in helping the Franks and the Van Damms. One interesting thing about it is how the two groups tried to keep their struggles hidden- she didn’t know about the internal conflicts they had, and they didn’t know about the problems she had helping them.
Note of trivia: Meip Gies was actually German, but like many other children of her generation, she was sent to a foster family in Denmark when Germany fell into hard times after World War I. She loved Denmark, and everything about about it, and was horrified when she was presented with a German passport (complete with swastika) at the start of the occupation. Fear of being ordered back to Germany led her to marry her longtime boyfriend, the good-looking blond whos name escapes me at the moment.
Meip Gies was an Austrian sent to live in The Netherlands, not a German sent to live in Denmark.
Thanks for the correction, Walloon. It looks as though I recalled her birthplace incorrectly because of the passport business- apparently Austrians were considered German citizens at that point in time.
And I always confuse Denmark with the Netherlands, honestly. Please don’t unleash Coldfire on me!
:smack: X ten!
[nitpick]
Shouldn’t the name be Miep Gies? Miep is a Dutch name, Meip isn’t AFAIK.
[/nitpick]
I guess the not knowing for scertain who turned them in is indicative of the hideous nature of living under dictatorship.
Never knowing who accuses you, anonymous fingers pointing makes for destroying trust in society and isolates individuals.
It might be the most disquieting part of the whole book in some ways.