Long-term research themes
What happened after the arrest
Long-term research into what happened to the people in hiding after their arrest on 4 August 1944 turned up new sources. These sources show that Anne and her sister Margot died in Bergen-Belsen in February 1945, not in March 1945 as was presumed earlier. An article on the subject was published in NRC Handelsblad, a Dutch newspaper, on 31 March 2015.
The most frequently asked question: the betrayal
For years now, the question asked most frequently by visitors to the Anne Frank House is ‘who betrayed Anne Frank and the other people in hiding?’ This question implies that they were arrested because they had been betrayed. But is that so? New research into the matter has yielded new sources. They suggest that economic crimes may have played a role.By the end of 2016, after two years of research, these findings were published in an article in de Volkskrant, another Dutch newspaper. The Anne Frank House also published an article and a research report. The international press paid ample attention to the report.
Research into minor topics
Not all research takes years. We also look into minor topics, such as the stories behind some photos.
Photograph with two German brothers
Early 2010, we studied the location of a photograph showing Anne with the German Jewish brothers Herbert and Hermann Wilp. We followed the trail to Badhoevedorp, in the Netherlands. Local experts helped us to identify the probable location. Het Haarlems Dagblad, a local newspaper, reported on the search.
Anne Frank in Zandvoort
IIn 2014, the Zandvoort Museum hosted a minor exhibition called Anne Frank in Zandvoort, about the visits that Anne and her family made to the seaside resort. The exhibition, the accompanying booklet, and the article in Het Haarlems Dagblad were created by the museum, in collaboration with the Anne Frank House.
Anne Frank in Het Parool
In 2014, Het Parool, a newspaper, worked with us on a series of articles providing new information about Anne’s life.
Lectures by researcher staff
Research staff members of the Anne Frank House deliver lectures as well. In these lectures, we go into more detail about our research and the findings.
Vrije Academie
In November 2017, researcher Gertjan Broek delivered two lectures about the Anne Frank House building at the Vrije Academie, an educational institute. He covered new findings about the use and the development of the building since 1940. Prinsengracht 263 accommodated companies as well as the people in hiding. In the 1950s, the entire block of houses came close to being demolished. Today, it is a place for remembrance and for encounters.
Jewish Historical Museum
Early 2018, the Jewish Historical Museum in Amsterdam presented a retrospective about the work of Maria Austria, the photographer. In the early 1950s, she also took photos of the Secret Annex. Teresien da Silva, head of the Collections department of the Anne Frank House, delivered a lecture at the opening of the exhibition. She focused on the importance of these photographs as a historical source for the restoration of the Anne Frank House.