The last few months of my life
I was afraid...
all of the time
When I think about it now …
The worst part of it all was the fear.
The fear of actually dying.
All those humiliations...
did not compare.
The awful things we saw didn't change that.
But the idea …
that you could be the next to die...
that was the worst.
AFTER THE ARREST
We left Auschwitz.
COUGHING
BANG
AIRPLANES
The train often stopped because of the bombings.
Stay calm.
Lying in the box car...
I thought of mom and dad.
Our family...
had been torn apart.
How were they doing?
And what about the others?
We thought the journey would never end.
But then...
the doors opened.
SCREAMING
DOGS BARKING
In the Annex...
I missed nature so much.
And this is where I saw the woods for the last time.
We were so glad...
that we could get off of that train.
Into the trees.
And there was something other than the smell of poop and of urine...
sickness and death.
It really felt good.
THUNDER
DOGS BARKING
We registered...
And were given a new number on paper, not our arm.
we had to stand outside for hours.
It was November...
It was ice cold out.
After that...
we were taken to a camp with tents.
There were no beds.
We were on the ground.
THUNDER AND DOGS BARKING
One night, there was a terrible rain storm.
A CLAP OF THUNDER
SCREAMING
That tent’s going to collapse !
SCREAMING
THUNDER
We thought we were going to die.
A few tents collapsed.
But no one came to help.
So all the women decided to sleep together, outside, on the sopping wet ground.
Margot, Auguste and I huddled together to stay warm.
Without them...
Without them... I would have probably lost all hope.
From the tents and the mud...
We moved to filthy, overcrowded barracks.
COUGHING
We were surrounded by other women.
Sisters.
Mothers and their daughters.
And women who had no one left at all.
We were left entirely to our fate.
Everything okay?
The guards generally stayed in the towers around the camp.
So we didn't see them, really.
But when we did...
We were scared of their cruelty.
And the Germans knew that.
They used their cruelty...
To make sure that all of us prisoners...
did everything... they wanted.
There were contagious diseases...
like diphtheria.
Many had festering wounds.
And typhus.
If you caught typhus... you died.
Once the red spots appeared on your skin, after a few days of fever...
the shakes...
and vomiting...
COUGHING
You knew it'd be over very soon.
In late December...
some of us wanted to celebrate Hanukkah. All together.
This is the Jewish Festival of Light.
Cheese.
We had all saved a little food.
And we sang nursery rhymes.
*The road was long
*the horse cantered along happily
I really enjoyed that evening.
*I bet I’ll find the road myself.
*The driver lay down to rest.
We tried to make the best we could of everything.
* Wishing you a safe homecoming, my friend, my friend
* Wishing you a safe homecoming, my friend*
At dusk, we often snuck off. And went to the fence.
It separated our part of the camp from another part, where the prisoners had greater freedoms.
At the fence, you could sometimes talk to the people who passed by.
I hoped for news about Mom or Dad.
But no one had heard anything.
Is it okay? Is it warm enough?
Margot was sick.
Her fever was really high.
She had a bad headache.
She was in such bad shape...
I hardly recognized her anymore.
But I, too...
Was feeling worse and worse.
Anne!
Guess who’s here!
Your friend, Hanneli! She’s by the fence!
Go and see her!
Anne? Anne Frank?
I couldn't believe my ears.
Hanneli, My dear little friend, Hanneli.
We cried, we were so happy to speak to one another again.
She couldn't believe I was also being held in Bergen-Belsen.
I told her how bad things were for us.
And Hanneli offered to help us.
Know what I'll do?
I'm going to see if I can try and bring you some food next time.
Can you come here again at the same time, the day after tomorrow?
And so I went.
Two days later.
I summoned up enough strength to walk to the fence.
I'm going to throw it over!
One, two...
When that woman grabbed the package
And ran off...
I started to cry. And shout.
Calm down, Anne. It's okay.
But Hanneli... She was determined.
I'll just try again. Don't worry.
Hurry back to Margot.
A few days later, she threw another package when we met up again...
By the fence.
I managed to catch it.
But the small amount of food Hanneli could get to us...
was no use anymore.
Because we...
were getting worse by the minute.
Margot started...
To get red spots on her skin.
She had typhus.
I can’t really remember...
those last few days very well.
Girls...
I'm leaving.
Keep the faith, Anne.
Stay strong.
I love you.
Auguste...
was being taken away.
Now I only had my sister left.
Are you coming to have some cake?
And then...
my sister died.
Dear sister...
my own dear sister...
I was alive
But it didn’t feel like it.
My whole life
I'd most valued my thoughts and dreams.
I'd write about them.
Tell stories.
And analyse.
This is very so weird.
This is my camera. Yes, it’s all yours.
I paid for it.
And so I want to have another look…
at all the pieces that I made...
I want to take those pieces...
And make a real story with them.
For me, the most important thing is to clearly show...
What life.... Is really like here.
What it's really like.
I want to do something that people will remember me by.
I really want to mean something
to everyone.
I knew what would happen.
That I'd die.
All my thoughts and dreams...
would come to nothing.
But I had accepted it.
I couldn’t go on.
I couldn’t.