The Secret Annex - the official Anne Frank House website

The hiding place

July 6 1942

Monday morning, the Frank family goes into hiding in the Secret Annex of the office building. Previously, one of the upper floors was used as a laboratory for a short while. During the first months before going into hiding, the hiding place was prepared as inconspicuously as possible. The attic space and the two floors were cleared and made habitable.

Not in use

In the block of houses that is located on the garden side behind the Prinsengracht during the war, the Secret Annex of #263 is one in a long row. There are small and large buildings, where some houses lie deeper than others. The neighbors to the side and back are given the impression that the house in not in use. One week later, on July 13, the Van Pels family go into hiding at the Secret Annex. Fritz Pfeffer follows on November 16. The hiding period ends on August 4 1944, when the people in hiding have been betrayed and are arrested.