The Forgotten Story Of Margot Frank, Anne Frank’s ‘Brilliant’ Older Sister Who Also Kept A Diary
Margot Frank: The Quiet Legacy Of Anne Frank’s Sister
Though Margot Frank’s life intersected with some of the most tragic events in modern history, much of her personal story remains unknown. Friends, family, and Anne Frank’s iconic diary offer glimpses into her world—but Margot’s own diary was lost, leaving her voice tragically silent.
Margot Frank with a friend from her rowing team in Amsterdam, 1941.
Credit: Roos van Gelder/The Anne Frank House
In a diary entry from October 1942, Anne Frank described lying beside her sister Margot in bed, the two of them discussing their diaries. Margot asked if she could read Anne’s. Anne agreed—on the condition she could read Margot’s in return. While Anne’s journal went on to shape global awareness of the Holocaust, Margot’s was never recovered.
As a result, Margot Frank remains something of a mystery. While Anne’s writing captures the emotional texture of their time in hiding, Margot’s insights, thoughts, and reflections vanished with her.
Still, through the recollections of those who knew her, Margot Frank’s memory endures.
A ‘Brilliant’ Daughter
Margot Betti Frank was born on February 16, 1926, in Frankfurt, Germany, to Otto and Edith Frank. As the family’s eldest daughter, Margot was known from a young age for her intelligence and composure. A school report once praised her as “very diligent,” and the Anne Frank House described her as “neat and careful.”
Three years later, Anne was born. While Anne would later refer to herself as the family’s mischievous spirit, she described Margot as the “cleverest,” “prettiest,” and “kindest” of them all.
But the girls’ peaceful childhood came to an end with Adolf Hitler’s rise to power. As antisemitic persecution intensified, the Frank family fled Germany for Amsterdam.
Despite having to learn a new language, Margot thrived in her Dutch school. She quickly improved her grades and became a well-rounded student. Outside the classroom, she enjoyed rowing and tennis and maintained a close group of friends.
Still, the looming threat of Nazi aggression wasn’t lost on her. In a 1940 letter to her American penpal, Margot wrote:
“We never feel safe, because we border directly on Germany and we are only a small country.”
Just two weeks later, her fears came true: Nazi forces invaded the Netherlands in May 1940.
Into Hiding
Under Nazi occupation, Jewish families like the Franks saw their lives shrink rapidly. Anne and Margot were soon attending segregated Jewish schools, and freedoms were stripped away bit by bit. Then, on July 5, 1942, Margot received a summons for forced labor in Germany. The next day, the Frank family went into hiding.
The family moved into a secret annex above Otto Frank’s office at 263 Prinsengracht, where they would live with four others for over two years.
It was here that Anne began keeping her diary. Her entries shed light on her complicated relationship with Margot—sometimes affectionate, sometimes filled with the tension of adolescence and confinement.
At one point, Anne accused her sister of being “passive” and “weak-willed.” She also noted that their father seemed to prefer Margot for her composure and intellect.
Despite these early frictions, the sisters grew closer over time. Anne found unexpected comfort in her sister’s maturity. When Anne formed a relationship with Peter van Pels, another annex resident, she worried Margot might be hurt. Instead, Margot expressed happiness for her, saying they were already “missing out on so much.”
By early 1944, Anne wrote:
“Margot’s much nicer… She’s not nearly as catty these days and is becoming a real friend.”
Tragically, their renewed bond would be cut short. On August 4, 1944, after being betrayed, the occupants of the annex were arrested by the Gestapo.
Bergen-Belsen And Margot’s Final Days
The Frank family was first deported to Westerbork transit camp, then to Auschwitz. Otto was separated from his wife and daughters, and in November 1944, Margot and Anne were sent to the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp.
Survivors recall Bergen-Belsen as a place of unimaginable suffering—where people didn’t die in gas chambers but slowly succumbed to disease, starvation, and exposure.
Margot and Anne slept on lice-infested straw mattresses under threadbare coverings. In the final months of the war, typhus swept through the camp. Both sisters fell ill.
Though the exact date of their deaths remains unknown, fellow prisoners later said they likely died in February 1945, just weeks before British troops liberated the camp in April.
Margot was either 18 or 19. Anne was 15.
The Diary That Was Never Found
After the war, Otto Frank returned to Amsterdam. He was the only member of the family to survive.
There, he reunited with Miep Gies, one of the Dutch citizens who had helped hide the Franks. She had saved Anne’s diary, hoping to return it to her. Instead, she gave it to Otto.
He later decided to publish it, giving the world The Diary of a Young Girl, one of the most powerful first-person accounts of the Holocaust ever written. It has since been translated into more than 70 languages.
But Margot’s diary? It was never found.
Margot’s childhood friend, Jetteke Frijda, once told Otto:
“I think it’s wonderful what you are doing for Anne, but I think it’s a pity that nothing is mentioned anymore about Margot. She is also worthy of being mentioned.”
At the same time, Frijda suggested that Margot—who was quiet, introspective, and reserved—might not have wanted her private thoughts published for the world to read.
Remembering Margot Frank
We may never know what Margot Frank thought, felt, or feared during those final years. Her diary is gone. But the memories preserved by those who knew her give us a fragmentary, but deeply human portrait.
Not just Anne Frank’s sister, Margot was a thoughtful, brilliant, and compassionate young woman who also faced the horrors of genocide with quiet courage.
Her voice may be lost, but her presence in the Frank family story—and the broader story of the Holocaust—remains vital.