Anne was born Annelies Marie Frank on June 12, 1929, in Frankfurt, Germany. She came from a Jewish family of German heritage. In 1933, when she was four years old, Anne’s family relocated to the Dutch city of Amsterdam to escape the rise of the Nazis in Germany and their anti-Semitic legislation. In the Netherlands Anne went to a Jewish secondary school, the Jewish Lyceum. According to Peter, at that time, Anne was “always the center of attention!” (172).

When her family went into hiding, Anne was close to her father Otto but had difficulty getting along with her older sister Margot and her mother Edith. On her mother, Anne writes, “She’s the one whose tactless comments and cruel jokes about matters I don’t think are funny have made me insensitive to any sign of love on her part” (84). Anne was devoted to her father, writing, “I model myself after Father, and there’s no one in the world I love more” (118). However, as time passes, they became more distant, and Anne felt that her father rarely if ever confided in her or showed her real affection. Also, she became close to Peter van Daan. Although they spent time together and kissed, Anne claims, “I soon realized he could never be a kindred spirit, but [I] still tried to help him break out of his narrow world and expand his youthful horizons” (208).