The secret hiding-place

On 6 July 1942, the Frank family goes into hiding in the annex of Otto Frank’s business premises. One week later, they are joined by Hermann van Pels, his wife Auguste, and their son Peter. In November they decide that there is room for one more, and Fritz Pfeffer, an acquaintance of the Frank family, joins them. He tells them how many friends of the Frank family have been arrested in round-ups. ‘It is so sad to learn what he knew,’ Anne writes in her diary. She feels guilty for being in a safe hiding-place, while her friends ‘are in the hands of the cruellest executioners that ever lived.’