Fifth Grade
Worksheets
Anne Frank: Life at Auschwitz
On September 3, 1944, Anne Frank and her family boarded a train that was bound for Auschwitz. Auschwitz was the largest killing center in all of the territory that was controlled the Nazis. For three days and three nights the freight train chugged along, carrying 1,019 frightened passengers. Each train car was overly crowded. No one was able to lie down during the journey; they stood or sat on the scratchy straw-lined floor instead.
When they arrived at Auschwitz, the men and women were immediately separated from each other and sent to different sections. Those strong enough were forced to hike for more than an hour to their respective areas. More than half of the train passengers were too old, too weak, or too young to make the long walk. A truck arrived to transport them. These men, women, and children were not driven to the different barracks. They were instead taken directly to the gas chamber and killed.
Life at Auschwitz was cruel and harsh. All of the prisoners' heads were shaved. The Nazis also tattooed numbers on the left forearms of the prisoners. These became their new identities. The residents were no longer called by name, only by number. The prisoners at Auschwitz tried to survive on very little food. In the morning, guards handed out one piece of bread and one cup of coffee. This had to be shared among five people!
