The Start of a Journey: Leaving Frankfurt
The year 1933 marked the beginning of a profound and painful transition for the Frank family. In March, they were forced to leave their apartment on Ganghoferstrasse 24 in Frankfurt am Main and move in with Otto’s mother. This was not a move for convenience; the expense of the flat was beyond their means, and the family had likely already decided to leave Germany due to the rising political tension.
Otto Frank acknowledged the severity of their situation in a letter, writing, “Business is poor. You can’t see straight when nothing seems to be going right.” This simple admission underscores the financial and emotional stress the family was under. Yet, he found a small comfort in his children: “Only the children seem to be enjoying themselves.”
The necessity of leaving became a terrifying reality in April 1933 when the Hitler government began enacting a variety of anti-Semitic measures. Jewish teachers and civil servants were dismissed from their jobs. The hatred even reached the playgrounds, where Jewish children were bullied and called names at school.
The family began to separate in preparation for emigration. At the beginning of August 1933, Otto Frank boarded a train for Amsterdam to set up a new life. Meanwhile, Edith, Margot, and Anne traveled to Edith’s mother in Aachen, marking the end of their life in Germany and the first step on their journey toward a future that was, tragically, never to be secure.