The Frank family dates back to Judengasse (or Jewish Alley) in Frankfurt. It was considered the ghetto of the city. Most of the Jews who lived in the center of the city eventually had to settle there. Living conditions in the Judengasse were cramped and poor, and government (guild) laws prohibited most Jews from working in trades and skilled trades; making it harder to stay afloat. Through my research, I discovered that the Stern and Cahn families, direct descendants of Anne Frank, lived in Judengasse many years before her. Anne's great-great-grandfather was a wealthy merchant and most of her other descendants were historically academics and booksellers. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why violent video games should not be banned”? Get the original essay In 1889, Anne's father (Otto) was born and in 1925, Otto married Anne's mother, Edith . The Franks placed great importance on a good education. The children took music lessons (Otto played the cello) and naturally learned English, French and Italian. After the sudden death of his father, Otto worked in the family bank with his younger brother Herbert. When the First World War broke out in 1914, the Franks were assimilated and considered themselves German, and the sons voluntarily presented themselves for service: Otto became an officer in France. After World War I, the banking industry was in steady decline and the Frank family lost a lot of money because of this. In 1926, the Franks had their first daughter Margot and in 1929, Anne was born. Before World War II, the financial situation deteriorated after Germany was forced to pay reparations after losing the first. Furthermore, the social situation of Jews worsened due to increased feelings of anti-Semitism among the population. In January 1933, Hitler was appointed Reich Chancellor and one of his first actions was to boycott Germany's Jewish population. Government commandos occupied the entrances to department stores and Jewish stores and prevented access to law offices and medical practices owned by Jewish citizens. The Franks then decided to leave Germany for Amsterdam to seek asylum and start a new one. When the German army attacked the Netherlands in 1940 and then occupied the country, anti-Jewish laws were enacted. Jews were increasingly restricted in their professional and social lives. In 1942, after Margot received a letter inviting her to be transported to a German labor camp, Otto decided it was time to go into hiding. This hiding place had been prepared by Otto a year earlier in the annex of a business in Amsterdam. The Frank family went into hiding on July 6, 1942. They lived for two years in what was called the secret annex, with the van Pels family. It was here that Anne Frank wrote her diary which later became famous all over the world. Keep in mind: this is just a sample. Get a personalized paper now from our expert writers. Get a Custom Essay The Franks and their friends were betrayed by the Gestapo in 1944 and then transported to Westerbork. With the very last transport from the Netherlands, which left Westerbork on September 3, 1944, Anne Frank, now aged fifteen, her parents and her sister Margot were transferred to the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp. Anne and Margot died there in March 1945, following the typhus epidemic. Their mother, Edith Frank, who remained in Auschwitz, also died, probably of exhaustion; their father, Otto Frank, was one of the few Jewish prisoners freed by Soviet troops 1945.