Johannes Hendrik Voskuijl (15 January 1892 – 27 November 1945) was one of the people who helped to hide
Anne Frank
Annelies Marie "Anne" Frank (, ; 12 June 1929 – )Research by The Anne Frank House in 2015 revealed that Frank may have died in February 1945 rather than in March, as Dutch authorities had long assumed"New research sheds new light on Anne Fra ...
and the other people of the
Secret Annex in Amsterdam. He was the father of helper
Bep Voskuijl
Elisabeth "Bep" Voskuijl (; 5 July 1919 – 6 May 1983) was a resident of Amsterdam who helped conceal Anne Frank and her family from Nazi persecution during the occupation of the Netherlands. In the early versions of ''Het Achterhuis'', know ...
, who is known as "Elli Vossen" in the earliest editions of ''Het Achterhuis'', known in English as ''
The Diary of Anne Frank
''The Diary of a Young Girl'', also known as ''The Diary of Anne Frank'', is a book of the writings from the Dutch-language diary kept by Anne Frank while she was in hiding for two years with her family during the Nazi occupation of the Netherl ...
''. Voskuijl himself is named "Mr. Vossen." Voskuijl built the famous bookcase that covered the hiding place.
Helper in the Secret Annex
Voskuijl and his wife Christina Sodenkamp had eight children, one of whom was Bep Voskuijl (1919-1983). He worked as the manager of the warehouses of the
Opekta
Opekta, also known as Gies & Co., was a European pectin and spice company that existed between 1928 and 1995. It is notable for its Dutch operation being based in the building at ' that would later become the Anne Frank House. Opekta started ...
company at 263 Prinsengracht, administrated by
Otto Frank
Otto Heinrich Frank (12 May 1889 – 19 August 1980) was a German businessman who later became a resident of the Netherlands and Switzerland. He was the father of Anne and Margot Frank and husband of Edith Frank, and was the sole member of ...
. In July 1942, Frank went into hiding in the same building, together with his wife
Edith Holländer and his daughters
Margot Margot (; ) is a feminine French given name, a variant of Marguerite. It is also occasionally a surname. Persons named Margot include the following:
People with the given name Margot
* Margot Asquith, countess of Oxford and Asquith
* Marguerite ...
and
Anne
Anne, alternatively spelled Ann, is a form of the Latin female given name Anna. This in turn is a representation of the Hebrew Hannah, which means 'favour' or 'grace'. Related names include Annie.
Anne is sometimes used as a male name in the ...
, later accompanied by the
van Pels family and dentist
Fritz Pfeffer
Friedrich "Fritz" Pfeffer (30 April 1889 – 20 December 1944) was a German dentist and Jewish refugee who hid with Anne Frank and her family during the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands. He perished in the Neuengamme concentration camp in ...
. After his daughter Bep, who worked at the Opekta office, Voskuijl was let in on the secret, too. The other warehouse employees were not aware of the presence of people in hiding. Voskuijl and his daughter supported each other tremendously in these years. They could only discuss the Annex with each other, as they kept silent to the rest of the Voskuijl family for safety reasons.
In her diary, Anne Frank wrote that Voskuijl "couldn't do enough to help". For the hiders, it was a great reassurance knowing he would keep an eye on the situation in the warehouse. Johannes would also make sure that the waste from the hiding place disappeared unnoticed in the morning. Furthermore, in August 1942, Voskuijl built the famous bookcase that concealed the entrance to the Secret Annex. He also made Saint Nicholas gifts for the people in hiding, such as an ashtray for Hermann van Pels, a picture frame for Pfeffer, and bookends for Otto Frank.
Illness
The people in hiding felt a great loss when Voskuijl had to stop working in the summer of 1943, as he suffered from stomach cancer. On 15 June 1943, Anne Frank wrote: "It is a disaster for us that good old Voskuijl won't be able to keep us in touch with all that goes on, and all he hears in the warehouse. He was our best helper and security adviser; we miss him very much indeed."
Johannes Voskuijl died in Amsterdam on 27 November 1945. Otto Frank and the rest of the helpers attended his funeral on 1 December.
[ Anne Frank: The Biography by ]Melissa Müller
Melissa Müller (born 1967 in Vienna, Austria) is an Austrian journalist and author.
She is the author of '' Anne Frank: The Biography,'' which draws on historical documents and personal interviews with those who knew Anne Frank to provide a ful ...
Further reading
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References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Voskuijl, Johannes Hendrik
1945 deaths
1892 births
Deaths from stomach cancer
Deaths from cancer in the Netherlands
Anne Frank