On 4 August 1944, the secret annex at 263 Prinsengracht in Amsterdam was raided by the Gestapo, ending over two years of hiding for Anne Frank, her family, and four others. The arrest would later be immortalised through Anne’s posthumously published diary, a testament to the human cost of persecution.
The arrest and aftermath
The Franks, along with the Van Pels family and Fritz Pfeffer, had remained hidden for 25 months in a concealed section of Otto Frank’s former business premises. Their discovery came unexpectedly on a warm summer Friday, when a German SS officer, Karl Silberbauer, led the raid following a tip-off. The informant’s identity remains inconclusive to this day, though several investigations have sought to clarify it.
The group was swiftly arrested and interrogated. Their helpers — Miep Gies, Johannes Kleiman, Victor Kugler, and Bep Voskuijl — were also questioned, although some were later released. The eight Jews in hiding were transported first to the Westerbork transit camp and subsequently to Auschwitz. Only Otto Frank survived the Holocaust.
A contested betrayal
Over the years, speculation has swirled around who may have betrayed those in the annex. Despite multiple investigations — including inquiries by Dutch police, the Anne Frank House, and an independent cold-case team — definitive proof has never surfaced. A 2022 report controversially suggested Arnold van den Bergh, a Jewish notary, as a likely suspect, but the theory has faced widespread criticism and was later discredited due to a lack of reliable evidence.
The ongoing uncertainty has underscored the complex realities of wartime survival, where motives, fear, and loyalty were deeply entangled. For many, the mystery remains a painful reminder of the fragile human networks upon which survival depended.
A legacy far beyond the annex
The events of 4 August 1944 led indirectly to one of the world’s most read and translated personal narratives: The Diary of Anne Frank. Preserved by Miep Gies, Anne’s writings illuminated the inner life of a young girl caught in unimaginable circumstances. Her reflections on fear, hope, love, and injustice have shaped global understanding of the Holocaust.
Today, the Anne Frank House operates as a museum and educational foundation, drawing more than a million visitors annually. The site preserves not only the physical space where Anne lived in hiding but also the moral imperative of remembrance and human rights.
The weight of remembrance
The discovery of the annex remains one of the most haunting episodes in Dutch wartime history. It represents not just a loss of innocence but a broader collapse of refuge under Nazi occupation. For contemporary generations, it raises enduring questions about complicity, courage, and the cost of silence.
Eighty-one years later, the impact of that day reverberates still. Anne Frank’s words, written in confinement and fear, continue to speak to freedom’s fragility — and to the enduring need for vigilance against hatred and oppression.
REFH – Newshub, 4 August 2025
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