Anne Frank – The story of Kitty(Upper Key Stage 2)

Remember…

• Before you start, you will need the diary sheets your teacher has given you.

• Whenever you see the diary sign opposite, you will need to write an entry as asked.

The Early Years

Anne was a Jewish girl born in 1929 in Germany. Her parents were Edith and Otto and she had an older sister, Margot.

Adolf Hitler came to power in Germany in 1933 and he hated the Jews; the Frank family moved to Amsterdam in Holland to be safe.

Anne Frank went to school and dreamt of being a film star or a writer.

Holland

Amsterdam

1940

The Germans move West and invade Holland.

German Occupation

Soon, the Germans were in command of all Holland. Their leader, Adolf Hitler, passed unfair laws against the Jews who he believed were not as good or worthy as the German people he called “The Aryan Master race”.

Children like Anne and Margot were not allowed to go on living a normal life.

Life in Occupied Holland

All Jews were stopped from going to many places, and all of them had to wear a star like these children.

What do you think the stars mean?

Do they remind you of anything?

How do you think Anne would have felt?

Write some sentences in your diary to describe how you think Anne may have felt.

Click on a picture for a link to help you

Going into Hiding

Before long, Jewish people were being arrested and sent away to German labour camps. Margot was ordered to report for a camp, and the Franks knew this would mean almost certain death.

The family decided to hide in a secret room in the building Otto worked at. They packed some clothes and Anne packed her diary which she had received for a birthday present.

She called her diary Kitty.

The Secret Annexe

The secret rooms, or ‘annexe’, were reached by a staircase hidden behind a bookcase.

The Frank family hid in the secret rooms along with another family –the Van Daans.

There was hardly any room and not enough food. Some Dutch friends brought food when they could, and the two families had to be absolutely silent during the day in case anybody heard them and reported them to the Germans.

Best Friends with Kitty

Anne stuck up pictures of film stars on the walls to cheer her up.

This is her room.

Anne wrote in her diary, Kitty, every day.

She wrote all her thoughts down and all about her days. If you click on her diary, you can find out lots more information.

Life in the Annexe

Can you write a diary entry that Anne may have written whilst in the annexe?

Think about how she may have felt and what she might have missed while being there.

Click the house for a link to more ideas.

Capture!!!

On 6th June 1944, the allied army of British and America invaded Europe, now the war would soon be over.

But disaster struck the Franks and Van Daans, they were discovered just days before Amsterdam was set free. No one knows who betrayed them.

The two families were put on a train bound for the concentration camp.

Life in the Camp They eventually arrived at

Auschwitz camp a month later. They got off the cramped train and were met with these gates. The words say ‘Work Will Make You Free’.

This was a lie. The camp was a terrible place;

many thousands of Jews were killed and the others had to work hard in dreadful conditions.

Anne’s hair was shaved off, she lost weight but she still tried to remain happy despite having lost her most of her family and Kitty.

A day in the Camp

Try to imagine being Anne in the concentration camp.

Write down how life is different from before the war and German occupation.

How are you feeling? What do you wish for? Why do you think you are

here?

My Day in the Camp

In your diaries…

Today….

Jewish children would have been dressed like this. Click on the child for some help.

A Sad Ending

In October 1944 Anne and Margot were taken to another camp at Bergen-Belsen.

Conditions here were even worse than Auschwitz, and in the Spring of 1945, Margot and Anne both died of disease and hunger.

Freedom for Others Only a few weeks later, the allied army reached the

camp and set free all the remaining Jewish prisoners; it was just a little too late for Anne

The Spirit Survives

Otto Frank was the only survivor of the family. He found Anne’s diary and it was published in 1947. The whole world loved the book, and the tragedy of Anne’s story told the world about a brave little Jewish girl.

The Present Day Today, millions of people come from all over the

world to visit the house in Amsterdam to see where the story of a brave little girl unfolded.

Anne Frank will never be forgotten.

Anne Frank 1929 - 1945