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A Father's Story

Sixty-five years ago, during World War II, a young Jewish girl named Anne Frank went into hiding. Her family tried to escape persecution by the Nazis, the German political party that tried to wipe out Jewish people. For 25+ months, the Franks lived in a secret part of a building in Amsterdam, in the Netherlands. After the family was captured, Anne's diary was found. The Diary of a Young Girl was first published in 1947.

Now, letters written by Anne's father, Otto Frank, his family and a friend have come to light. The documents reveal valiant efforts to save his family. On February 14, the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research, in New York City, will release the documents to the public.

Estelle Guzik, a volunteer at YIVO, came across the file containing Frank's letters about two years ago. Its roughly 80 pages, including official records, show just how desperately Frank was trying to find an escape route to flee the Nazis. Attempts were made to arrange passage for his family to the United States or Cuba. Possible escape routes through Spain and Portugal were also explored. Nothing worked.

YIVO spokeswoman Cathy Callegari calls the letters' discovery bittersweet. "(There is) a lot of sadness attached to it," she says.

Anne died in 1945, at age 15, in the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp. Otto Frank survived.

Anne's story continues to inform and inspire millions of people. Her diary has been translated into more than 65 languages. Now her father's letters will add to her account of the Holocaust's awful human toll.

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