When at one point, Otto lost hope after he had been beaten, his fellow inmates, with the help of a Dutch doctor, made sure that he was admitted to the sick barracks. He was also helped by other friends in the camp. Otto felt greatly supported by Peter van Pels, who would sometimes be able to get some extra food through his job in the camp’s post office. When the frost made working outdoors impossible, Otto ended up with less exhausting work: peeling potatoes. Then, he was transferred to the 'Kommando Strassenbau', building roads outside the camp. The gravel was used for construction projects. At first, Otto was put to work outside the camp in the 'Kommando Kiesgrube’, a gravel mine. It was the last time Otto would ever see his wife and children.Īfter the separation on the Auschwitz-Birkenau platform, the men from the Secret Annex stayed together. The men and women were separated on the platform. The prisoners were packed tightly in cattle wagons, without enough food and with only a small barrel for a toilet.Īfter three days on the train, they arrived in Auschwitz-Birkenau. This was the last train ever to leave Westerbork for the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration and extermination camp. Otto had to work during the day - the kind of work is not known - but in the evening he could be with Edith, Margot, and Anne.Īfter only a few weeks in Westerbork, Otto and the others were put on train travelling to the east.

They ended up in the prison barracks, and the men and women were separated. Otto felt guilty when they also took Johannes Kleiman and Victor Kugler.Īfter a few days in prison, Otto and the others were put on a train to the Westerbork transit camp. Otto and the other people in hiding were arrested. The hiding period came to an abrupt end when, on 4 August 1944, Dutch police officers headed by SS-Hauptscharführer Karl Josef Silberbauer unexpectedly raided the Secret Annex. Otto sees his wife and children for the last time

Ann rule and never let her go