In the country there was more room, although this did not necessarily mean that the living conditions were any better. In the city the spaces were often small and the people in hiding had to remain absolutely quiet the walls were thin and the slightest noise could betray their presence to the neighbours. The places where people went into hiding varied enormously in type and size. Often there was a charismatic figure at the centre who had many contacts in the area and a heart in the right place. Many people who went into hiding ended up in the country there was more food available there during the war and farmers could always use cheap labour.Дuring the course of 1942 the process of going into hiding became increasingly well organized and there were small networks to find hiding places in different parts of the country. Most Jews did not have a hiding place where they could go with the whole family or the possibility of preparing thoroughly for going into hiding. A well-oiled network of involved helpers who really managed to look after вЂњtheirвЂќ charges soon developed at Prinsengracht 263. Going into hiding was still an unknown phenomenon and none of those involved had any experience of it.ДЇortunately there were close ties between the people who went into hiding and the helpers who knew each other well and trusted each other. Despite months of preparations, the organization with regard to the Secret Annex was quite haphazard at first. When Margot was called up on 5 July 1942, this was the signal for the Frank family to go into hiding. According to Abel Herzberg, one of the first Dutch authors to write about the history of the war, there was a tendency to underestimate the dangers of being deported and overestimate those of going into hiding. The extreme dependence on often unknown people was another obstacle, and there were also more practical objections: for example, it would be impossible to continue to observe all the religious rules in a Christian family where Jews could go into hiding.ДЇinally, certainly during the first stage of the deportations it was not generally known that a large proportion of the deported people would be sent to the gas chambers as soon as they arrived at a вЂњlabour campвЂќ. In addition, for many people it was unthinkable to be separated from their family members.

For many people, entering the world of illegality was entirely against their nature, particularly as the Jewish Council п»їВ was also against the decision: as it was impossible for everyone to go into hiding, no one should do so. With hindsight this may seem incomprehensible, but at the time the decision was by no means self-evident. In many Jewish families this call led to heated discussions about whether or not to go into hiding. After identifying and isolating Jews, the occupying forces now started on the phase of deporting them. The summons on 5 July 1942 for the first thousand Jews to present themselves for вЂњlabour in GermanyвЂќ marked the start of the third phase of the persecution of the Jews in the Netherlands. This immediately shows a bit more about what it must have been like вЂњto live a non-lifeвЂќ as a Jewish person in hiding in the Netherlands. To examine this, we will look at the story of the Secret Annex in the broader perspective of the Jewish people who went into hiding in the Netherlands. There were five dedicated helpers and, certainly at the beginning, there was sufficient financial support. To what extent was Anne FrankвЂ™s situation an вЂњordinaryвЂќ example of going into hiding? In her case the move had been well prepared, with eight people on two floors, in the centre of a large city, for a long period and in one place. Posthumously, she became the face and voice of Jewish people who went into hiding.

вЂњGoing into hiding.вЂќ When they hear this phrase (in Dutch the term onderduiken literally meaning вЂњdiving underвЂќ), many people immediately think of one person, Anne Frank, the smart and slightly impertinent teenage girl who hid in a secret annex on the Prinsengracht in Amsterdam for more than two long war years.

One word for hiding emotions