Back in Amsterdam
Otto and the other prisoners can't start making their way back to the Netherlands until 21 May 1945.
After the war
The war is over, and Otto returns as the only survivor of the eight people in hiding
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Otto Frank
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Letter to his mother
A few days later, he writes his first letter to his mother in Switzerland: “I hope that these lines get to you bringing you and and all the ones I love news that I have been saved by the Russians, that I am well, and being looked after well in every respect. Where Edith and the children are I do not know. We have been apart since 5 September 1944. I merely heard that they had been transported to Germany.”
Auschwitz in the snow
On January 27, 1945, Russian soldiers liberate Auschwitz-Birkenau. There are only 7650 survivors.
The journey back
On March 31, 1945, Otto and other prisoners can finally begin their journey back to the Netherlands. It is a long trip via Odessa, by boat to Marseille, and the last leg by train and car. During this trip, Otto hears that his wife has died in Auschwitz. Otto Frank arrives back in Amsterdam on June 3, 1945. He immediately goes to Miep and Jan Gies’ home. They are overjoyed to see him again. They tell him that all of the helpers have survived the war. They have no news of Anne and Margot.
No house to live in
"My first path was to Miep and her husband and, because I no longer had a home, I stayed there. It was then that I discovered that she and Bep had never been arrested and that my friends Kleiman and Kugler had come back from the concentration camps to which they had been sent. We all had lots of stories of our sad experiences - they mourned the death of my wife with me - but we were hopeful that the children would return."