In July 1942, the Zentralstelle für jüdische Auswanderung (Central Office for Jewish Emigration) ordered Margot Frank to come to be taken to a work camp. Otto Frank told his family that they would hide in rooms above and behind the place where his company worked on the Prinsengracht. The Prinsengracht was a street next to one of Amsterdam's canals, where some of his most trusted employees would help them. The notice to Margot made them move a few weeks earlier than they had expected.
Anne's father, Otto Frank, was scared that the Nazis would find him and his family which he needed to protect, he then spoke to some of the people who worked in his business. One of them was a young woman of about 33 years old, and was named Miep Gies. He told her he needed help - he was going to turn the top floor of his business into a secret hiding place for himself and his family called "The Secret Annex". Miep and the others would have to help them keep their secret, and bring them food. They hid in their secret hiding place for two whole years, without being discovered by the Nazis. Anne Frank left all her other belongings in Frankfurt.
Miep agreed to help. In 1942, the Frank family, together with the Van Pels (And their son Peter) and a dentist named Fritz Pfeffer, moved into the Secret Annex that they had prepared. They planned to stay there until the end of the war. They hoped the war would end soon, but it did not. They spent around two and a half years in their hiding place, never able to go out into the sunshine. During the day, the family had to be very quiet, because the business continued downstairs, and not all the workers knew that the Frank family was in hiding in the upper part of the building.
A few months before the Franks went into hiding, Anne was given a diary, for her birthday. She called her diary "Kitty" and wrote in it about all the things that were happening to her and to her family. Anne was only a young girl, but she knew how to write beautifully. She wrote about all the things that young girls think about - how she was getting along with her friends and parents, boys (pretty much Peter), her life and emotions. After a while, Anne had one strong ambition, she aspired to be a writer. She hoped to write a book that everyone would read.
A total of 78 families lived hiding in the same building which was a total of 700 people.
After 2 years a thief had come and took not much, but after about two and a half years in hiding, not long before the end of the war, the thief was caught and, in exchange of not going to jail or death, he told the Nazis that a Jewish family - the Franks - were in hiding. Nazi soldiers came into the Frank's secret hiding place. They sent the Franks and the others to a concentration camp. Miep Gies found Anne's diary and put it into a drawer. She wanted to keep it safe until after the war. She hoped that Anne would return, and she would be able give her her diary back to her.
However, that was not to be. Anne's father, Otto Frank, lived through the war and came back to Amsterdam. He hoped that his family had survived too - but they had not. Of all the family, only he survived. His wife was killed at Auschwitz. Anne and her older sister, Margot, died at Bergen-Belsen concentration camp from typhus, a disease - only a month before the camp was freed by the Allied forces. When he got out, he found Anne's diary and published it.
When World War II ended, Miep Gies gave Otto Frank Anne's diary and a bundle of notes. Otto Frank then decided to publish her diary to commemorate her.
Miep Gies was with Otto Frank when he got the letter telling him that his two daughters were dead. Now she knew that Anne would never return for her diary. She went to the drawer where the diary was kept, and she gave it to Otto Frank. People who were close to Anne read the diary. They told Otto Frank that he should publish it. Anne had wanted to be a famous writer. Now, people would be able to read her book, and they would also learn about the difficult time that the Jews had during the war, and about the wonderful people who helped them.
Otto had Anne's diary printed. It became one of the world's most widely-read books. It has been printed in over 60 languages, and people across the world have read and enjoyed this true story. Today, for an admissions fee, you can visit the house in Amsterdam where Anne Frank and her family hid during the war. You can also see the diary that she wrote.
Jan Peter Balkenende
Jan Peter Balkenende (born 7 May 1956) is a Dutch politician. He was the Prime Minister of the Netherlands from 2002 until 2010. He is a member of the Christian Democratic Appeal party.
In other countries, he is perhaps most famous because he looks like Harry Potter. This makes him popular with young children, but many Dutch make jokes about it and call him "Jan Potter Balkenende" and other names like that.
Balkenende lives in Capelle aan den IJssel, Netherlands.
Toleration
Tolerance is not taking action against people who do things one does not like. The opposite of tolerance is intolerance. Intolerance is often found in dictatorships historically and often causes the hate crime and hate speech. Tolerance is often about religion (religious toleration), sex, or politic opinion, nation, race, disability, sexual orientation or gender identity.
Also multiculturalism is promoted through toleration.
William the Silent
William I of Orange-Nassau (24 April 1533 – 10 July 1584) was an important leader of the Dutch rebellion against the Spanish in the Eighty Years' War. He was the first leader of the Netherlands. He held the title of Prince of Orange.
William of Orange is better known as William the Silent (in Dutch: "Willem de Zwijger"). It is not known how he got this name. One story says that when the kings of France and Spain proposed to William to kill all Protestants in his area, William did not reply.
William was born in Nassau in Germany. The king of Spain made him stadtholder (a sort of leader) of several Dutch provinces. But William converted to Protestantism, the religion of the Dutch people, and joined their struggle for independence. The king of Spain offered a reward for the person who would kill William. In 1584 William was shot by Balthasar Gerards in his house in Delft. William's last words were in French: "Mon Dieu, mon Dieu, ayez pitié de moi et de ton pauvre peuple" (My Lord, My Lord, have pity on me and your poor people). Balthasar Gerards never received his reward, because he was killed by the angry Dutch.
In the Netherlands, people often call him "Father of the fatherland". The Dutch national anthem, the Wilhelmus, is about William.
Simón Bolívar
Simón Bolívar (1783 - 1830) was a Venezuelan military and political leader. He was born in Caracas, Venezuela. He liberated many countries from Spain in South America. Those countries included Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia. For a few years he was president of Gran Colombia, a country that no longer exists. The country Bolivia is named after Bolívar.
Simón Bolívar was born in Caracas into a very rich family that owned plantations, ranches, mines, and many slaves who they forced to work in their businesses. His full name was Simón José Antonio de la Santísima Trinidad Bolívar y Palacios Ponte-Andrade y Blanco. He was sent to school in Spain like many children of rich families were at the time. While he was in Madrid, Bolívar married María Teresa Rodríguez del Toro y Alaiza in 1802. He also learned about the ideas of the Enlightenment.