Surviving a Real-life Nightmare

"On a more profound level, however, the ability to communicate, to relate by way of the clear and uncensored word, was the means by which the Nazis' intention of erasing the entire Jewish population was undermined. If one voice succeeded in emerging from that hellish experience to recount it, the German master plan for the so-called 'Final Solution' would have then failed, at least in principle."

~ Nicholas Patruno “Primo Levi: Surviving the Holocaust” an essay on Primo Levi

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Many Jews saw the discrimination and anticipated the increasing violence that was coming. They tried desperately to leave. About 150,000 German Jews managed to flee from Germany by 1938. Unfortunately, that was only about “one in four” Jews. It was not long before one by one countries, including the United States, closed their doors to the terrified Jews (The Evian Conference).

 Hitler’s “Blitzkrieg” push through Western Europe gained Germany the countries of: “Poland (attacked in September 1939), Denmark (April 1940), Norway (April 1940), Belgium (May 1940), the Netherlands (May 1940), Luxembourg (May 1940), France (May 1940), Yugoslavia (April 1941), and Greece (April 1941) (World War II in Europe)”. This expansion for “living space” returned many Jews who had escaped from Germany and also added to their number. It seemed there was truly no hope of escaping Hitler and his cruelty as he embarked on a program that would make Germany “Judenrein”, but they were a people that did not easily give up.

Thousands went into hiding before and after the Ghetto’s were built. Many survivors have told stories of Hiding for years in forests, root cellars, attics, and, the extremely lucky ones, in the homes of non-Jewish families who willingly risked their lives to keep them safe from the Gestapo and SS who periodically raided towns, cities, and villages for Jews to deport to Ghettos and the Concentration Camps.

Sadly, not all who hid survived. Too often they were either discovered by accident or turned in by neighbors and eye witnesses that spotted them. One young girl, Anne Frank, is well known for writing a Diary while hiding for two years in the upper annex of a building in Amsterdam. Unfortunately, she, her family, and the four others in hiding with her were betrayed by neighbors. They were immediately deported to separate concentration camps where eventually everyone but Anne’s father, Otto Frank, died before Liberation. Countless others have stories just like their's.

Building where Anne Frank, her family, Mr. Dussle, and the van Daan's hid for two

years. "The Secret Annex" that became their home during this time was the uppermost floors of

the back annex and could only be entered through a door well hidden behind a bookcase.

Neither one of them ever left the building until the day the SS discovered them.

Books to Check Out:

The Diary of Young Girl: Anne Frank: The Definitive Edition 

Return to Jews home page or continue on and read about The Aftermath.