Margot is called up
On 5 July 1942, Margot is called up, along with thousands of other Jews in Amsterdam. She has to go to a labour camp in Germany. Otto and Edith have no intention of allowing their daughter to be sent to Nazi Germany.
Anne writes:
“I was stunned. A call-up, everyone knows what that means. Visions of concentration camps and lonely cells raced through my head.”
Everything seems to be fine...
In the weeks following her birthday, Anne writes in her diary at length: about all her classmates, about boys in her class who have a crush on her, over school report cards that are imminent… On July 3, 1942, Anne receives her first report card from the Jewish Lyceum. Anne is fairly satisfied, apart from failing algebra. According to Anne, her parents are not worried about her grades: “As long as I'm healthy and happy and don't talk back too much, they're satisfied.” The summer vacation finally begins. On Saturday, Anne goes with a group of her friends to Oase, an ice-cream parlor that is one of the few places Jews are still allowed to frequent.
A page from Anne's diary, 1942.
... but then comes mail
Anne is lying in the sun reading that next afternoon when the doorbell suddenly rings at 3:00 PM: It is the postman with registered mail for Margot: an official summons. Margot has to report. She is going to be sent to a Nazi work camp in Germany. This call-up is not a complete surprise. There have been rumors in the air for weeks about such a decree. If Margot doesn’t register, the whole family will be arrested.