The Man with the Joke: Hermann van Pels
Hermann van Pels was born on April 1, 1898. His life, like that of many others in the 1930s, was defined by the necessity of migration. In 1937, he moved his family—his wife, Auguste, and son, Peter—to Amsterdam.
It was there that Hermann found work with Otto Frank’s company, a professional connection that quickly turned into a personal one. The van Pels family would occasionally visit the Franks for coffee on Saturdays, laying the groundwork for the close, if sometimes strained, bond that would be tested in the Secret Annex.
Hermann was described as a “big man” with an outgoing personality. He was known for his humor and was always ready with a joke, a characteristic that must have been a small source of light in the tense, confined space of the Annex.
Tragically, Hermann van Pels did not survive the war. After his capture, he was taken to the Auschwitz concentration camp, where he died in the gas chambers in October 1944. His memory is that of a family man, a devoted employee, and a figure of warmth whose humor was a quiet act of resistance against the darkness.