How Did Anne Frank Die? Her Heartbreaking Final Months Inside The Bergen-Belsen Concentration Camp
After being starved, abused, and exposed to lice, 15-year-old diarist Anne Frank met a horrific death at the hands of the Nazis.
In February or March 1945, a German-born Jewish girl named Anne Frank died inside the Nazis’ Bergen-Belsen concentration camp. The 15-year-old, who likely succumbed to typhus, was one of about 50,000 Holocaust victims who died in Bergen-Belsen. Because of this, few people, aside from her fellow prisoners, took note of Anne Frank’s death when it happened.
But after World War II, Anne’s story took on a life of its own. Prior to her imprisonment, she had kept a diary that recounted her experiences of being Jewish as Nazism spread across Europe. Though she described the terror of hiding during the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands, she also filled the diary with her ordinary girlhood experiences — and her desire to live freely.
How Did Anne Frank Die
In one entry, Anne wrote, “I sometimes wonder if anyone will ever understand what I mean, if anyone will ever overlook my ingratitude and not worry about whether or not I’m Jewish and merely see me as a teenager badly in need of some good, plain fun.” Writings like these make the eventual discovery of Anne and her family by the Nazis even more heartbreaking.
Though Anne Frank died in Nazi captivity, as did her mother and sister, her father Otto Frank survived the Holocaust. And after Otto learned that Anne’s diary had been recovered, he eventually decided to publish it in 1947. Since then, the book has been translated into 70 languages and has sold more than 30 million copies, making it one of the world’s most famous diaries.
Most readers are aware that Anne Frank died just months after her family was captured by the Nazis and sent to concentration camps. But few know the details about how Anne Frank died and what happened to her in Bergen-Belsen leading up to her death. Sadly, some questions remain unanswered, like Anne Frank’s exact death date. But thanks to witness accounts from Holocaust survivors, we do know what her final months were like.