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History Daily

The Capture of Anne Frank

History Daily

Airship | Noiser | Wondery

History

4.42.1K Ratings

🗓️ 4 August 2025

⏱️ 25 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

August 4, 1944. Jewish teen Anne Frank and her family are discovered by the Gestapo after two years in hiding in a “secret annex” behind her father’s business in Amsterdam. This episode originally aired in 2022.


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Transcript

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0:00.0

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0:04.1

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0:06.0

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0:10.5

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0:30.9

It's 10.30 a.m. on August 4th, 1944, in Amsterdam, five years into World War II.

0:38.2

On the ground floor of a storefront on the banks of the city's canal, workers in a nondescript warehouse tend to the day's affairs.

0:42.0

Food is rationed in Amsterdam's tightly controlled economy,

0:44.5

but the Opecta Company is open for business,

0:48.1

selling fruit powder gels for Dutch housewives to turn into jam.

0:50.4

On the floor above the warehouse,

0:53.7

employees sit at desks and handle the business's clerical tasks. But inside their office

0:55.4

lies one part of the company's building that they never venture into. At the very back of the

1:00.2

room is a bookshelf, and behind it is the entrance to a secret. And it's there, tucked away from the

1:06.8

bustle of the business's operations, that Otto Frank, the company's director, hides from view.

1:12.6

Otto is a Jew, and in Nazi-occupied Holland, that makes him an enemy of the Third Reich.

1:18.3

So for the last two years, Otto and his family have hidden here inside this small, secret annex.

1:24.7

Day after day, Otto lives and works in silence. He keeps his steps light and his

1:30.0

voice low, and he always stays clear the window. But today, the usual quiet is interrupted.

1:37.1

From downstairs, Otto hears the sound of loud, menacing voices. He listens as they echo

1:42.2

through the stairwell below, followed by the creek of swinging

1:45.4

hinges, and then the sound of people thudding up the stairs. Then he watches in horror as the

1:51.1

door to the annex swings open. Otto recoils as an officer in a crisp black uniform raises

...

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