Kenneth Branagh credited as playing...
Narration
- Narration: Pfeffer took up residence in Anna's bedroom, complete with his drill and dental implements. While none of those in hiding would now lack treatment of cavities, the relationship between the 54 year old disciplinarian and the free spirit in her early teens was inevitably stormy.
- Narration: Franks formed the hub of an active social life amongst the other refugee families. But, for one visitor, at least, Anna's behavior made the Sunday gathering something of an ordeal.
- Isa Baschwitz: She was - just what you would call naughty!
- Narration: Her early diary jottings were typical of a 13 year old: gossip about school friends, jokes, and a record of her unextraordinary daily life - together with photos and other scraps. But, in the years that followed, she, in deed, also shared her most intimate secrets - including her increasing interest in the development of her body and in sex.
- Narration: Her prized gift, that 13th birthday, on Friday, the 12th of June, 1942, was her diary. A present she had bought with her father a few days before.
- Narration: From the beginning, Anna addressed her diary as a special friend with whom she would conduct a secret correspondence. Her first entry was this:
- Diary Readings: 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.
- Narration: In one of her first diary entries in hiding, Anna described her new home to her imaginary friend.
- Diary Readings: Thursday, July 9th, 1942. Dear Kitty, our secret annex is at the back of the building. There's just one small step from the door and then you're inside. Straight ahead of you is a steep flight of stairs. To the left is a narrow hallway opening up to a room that serves as the Frank family's living room and bedroom. Next door is a smaller room, the bedroom and study of the two young ladies of the family. To the right of the stairs is a windowless washroom with a sink. The door in the corner leads to the toilet and another one to Margot's and my room. If you go up the stairs and open the door at the top, you're surprised to see such a large light and spacious room in an old canal house like this. It contains a stove and a sink. This will be the kitchen and bedroom for Mr. and Mrs. van Pels, as well as the general living room, dining room, and study for us all. a tiny side room is to be Peter van Pels' bedroom. Then, just as in the front part of the building, there's an attic and a loft.
- Narration: After four days in the cellars of the Gestapo building, the prisoners were taken to the railway station in Amsterdam. There they were loaded under guard onto an ordinary passenger train. Jenny Brillslijper, a member of the Dutch Resistance, was amongst the prisoners.
- Self - Dutch Resistance Prisoner: What I saw was a family. There were a number of people, a very worried father and a nervous mother and two children wearing sports clothes I believe. Of course it was more than fifty years ago. They had sports clothes on and backpacks with them. And the four of them stayed together constantly. They spoke ver softly to one another and there were other people there. It was a beautiful day. The sun shone to greet you. The houses of the city were bathed in gold. And those people all had a sort of silent melancholy about them. Nobody said anything. I cannot say that the people were afraid. We went to meet the unknown. We didn't know what was waiting for us.
- Narration: Anna, Margot and Edith Frank, together with Mrs. Pels, were among the 212 women from the Dutch train who were granted entry into that special hell they call Auschwitz-Birkenau. They were place in Women's Block 29.
- Narration: She was just 15 when she died. A miserable and lonely death in a concentration camp in Germany. Yet, she is remembered for her faith in humanity.
- Narration: While his daughter was innocently absorbed with her developing body, Otto Frank was mindful that if Nazi measures against Jews continued to their inevitable conclusion, he and his family would need to take special precautions to protect themselves.
- Narration: When the Germans captured Jews in hiding, they looted everything of value. Officially, this booty was meant to finance the transportation of the Jewish prisoners to the Polish death camps. But, corruption was rife and Jewish valuables often lined the pocket of Nazi policemen. Needing a container for his loot, the Frank's Austrian arresting officer, SS-Obersturmführer Karl Josef Silberbauer, empty the contents of Otto Frank's briefcase onto the floor and, thus, he left behind Anna's diary.
- Miep Gies: After the Franks and the other people were away, I come here in and found - the diary, scattered on the floor. Bep and me, we saw this. That is the diary of Anne! Please take - take it. We took all the things, but, I was afraid that I had not all the paper of the diary. I knew that. But, I was so in a hurry. Because, I was afraid that this officer came again.
- Narration: Eight-three trains left Westerbork during the war for the east - for the death camps of Auschwitz and Sobibor. On September the third, 1944, they loaded many of the Jews in Westerbork onto the very last transport to Auschwitz. One thousand and nineteen men, women, and children, amongst them the group of eight from the secret annex. For most it was to be their last sight of Holland.
- Self - Westerbork Survivor: Darkness - is the first thing I think about. Being cramped in. Too many people. No room enough. Luggage. No possibility to lie. Sitting - for three days. Now and then standing.
- Narration: According to Auschwitz's own records, more than half the people from that train were gassed on the day after their arrival. September the 6th, 549 Jews, among them, every child under the age of 15.
- Narration: Otto Frank, weighing less than 115 pounds, was amongst the lucky few that the Russians found alive in Auschwitz.