THE DIARY OF ANNE FRANK: BBC ANNOUNCES NEW DOCUMENTARY SERIES

On July 6, 1942, Anne Frank, a 13-year-old Jewish girl goes into hiding with her family in Nazi-occupied Amsterdam. For two years, she keeps an extraordinary and intimate diary of their lives inside the ‘Secret Annexe.’ What she wrote is now recognised as a powerful record of one of the darkest periods in modern history.

Working in association with the Anne Frank Fonds, founded by Anne’s father Otto Frank, and with exclusive access to her diary and family archive, this premium history boxset will use Anne’s deeply personal first-person testimony to tell the story of how 75 per cent of the Jewish population was murdered by the Nazis in this corner of Europe.

This series will connect Anne’s personal perspective, limited by the confines of the “Secret Annexe”, to the broader atrocities unfolding just outside her walls - from the streets of Amsterdam as the Nazis’ grip on the Jewish population tightens, to the battlefields of Europe as Allied forces advance.

Powerful, dramatised testimony from other eyewitnesses and survivors will combine with a young actress taking on the role of Anne to create a moving and comprehensive picture of these horrifying war years and rarely seen archive and interviews with leading experts will bring these piercing accounts to life.

Executive Producer, James House, says: “Many of us think we know Anne Frank but I’m not sure we do. She’s funny, mischievous, whip-smart and resilient even in the darkest of circumstances. The words and experiences of a child are a particularly sobering reminder of what can happen when a dangerous ideology takes hold.”

The Diary of Anne Frank (w/t), a 3x60’, is being made by BBC Studios Specialist Factual Productions for BBC Two and iPlayer, and PBS in association with Skai Greece.