On that Friday, the 4th of August 1944, everything changed for Anne Frank and those closest to her. The day was warm and sunny. For Anne and her companions in concealment, it marked the 761st day since they had retreated into a secret Annex within one of her father's warehouses in Amsterdam.

Sometime during the morning hours, between ten and eleven, German police officers arrived at the secret Annex. On the ground floor, they encountered Van Maaren, who directed them upstairs to the office staff on the first floor. No evidence exists that Van was aware people were being hidden in the building.

The office staff were in the middle of their work when the officers entered and headed straight for the managing director, Victor Kugler. After interrogating him, they brought him along as they conducted a thorough search of the premises. In the course of their inspection, they discovered a revolving bookcase and chose to investigate behind it — and there it was, the concealed entrance to the secret Annex.

Over the preceding two years, Anne had been faithfully writing in a diary, filling its pages with insight, humor and poignancy as she chronicled her life in hiding. When the police stormed in, they seized every valuable belonging to those who had been concealing themselves there. As they dumped the valuables into a briefcase, Anne's diary tumbled onto the wooden floor. The moment of departure had arrived.

Along with Anne and all the others who had been hiding, helpers Johannes Kleiman and Victor Kluger were also taken into custody. By that point, the time was around 1 PM. Of everyone arrested that day, only Otto, Anne's father, would survive the war. Upon his return, helper Miep presented him with the papers from Anne's diary.

More Facts About the Arrest of Anne Frank and Her Family

  • On August 4, 1944, the Nazis arrested Anne Frank, her family, and other Jews (the van Pels family and Fritz Pfeiffer). They had been hiding from the Nazis at Otto Frank's office building 263 Prinsengracht in a secret Annex above the offices.
  • An anonymous tip guided the Nazis to the secret annex where Ann Frank and her family were captured. Even after decades of investigations, no source has proved the informant's identity.
  • Two retired FBI officials partly lead the 20-person team; Roger Depue, a behavioral scientist; and Vince Pankoke, a former special agent.
  • Anne Frank was only 15 years old when she was arrested
  • The Franks lived in hiding for over two years
  • Although the circumstances of Frank's arrest have been cloaked in mystery, the diary he kept during her confinement is currently among the most crucial accounts of the Holocaust.
  • The Nazi Gestapo forced the Franks and van Pels to hand over their valuables.
  • The Gestapo threw out Otto Frank's briefcase containing Anne Frank's diary from when she turned 13 through their hiding.
  • Anne Frank's father, Otto was the only family member who survived the subsequent deportation to concentration camps