This 8-night and 9-day tour follows the story of the Frank family from their hiding place in Amsterdam, through the transit camp of Westerbork, to the concentration camp of Bergen-Belsen where Anne and her sister Margot died in February 1945. We also visit the concentration camp of Neuengamme where Anne’s roommate in the secret annex - Fritz Pfeffer - died in December 1944. The story of one Jewish family hiding with others in wartime Amsterdam is set within the wider context of the holocaust in the Low Countries, with visits to other sites across the Netherlands and Belgium that were central to the Nazi persecution of Jews and other victims.

On 10 May 1940 German forces rolled into The Netherlands and Belgium and overwhelmed the nations’ armies; rapid surrender followed. The oppressive Nazi regime which took hold of these countries was a disaster for Jewish communities, many of which had lived in the region for centuries. Fiercely anti-Semitic policies forced Jews into social isolation, seizure or destruction of property became prevalent, and violence against them was soon commonplace. In 1942 a systematic deportation of Jews to concentration and extermination camps began.

Amongst the myriad human tragedies of the Holocaust one has stood out: the story of a young German-born Jewish girl who hid in an Amsterdam house with her family until tragically discovered by the Nazis. The experience of Anne Frank (1929-45) has become emblematic of the tense lives lived by those forced underground and the fear that discovery meant almost certain death.

All over the Low Countries Jews and other perceived ‘undesirables’ were being rounded up and sent via the Westerbork and Dossin transit locations to their terrible fate. Bergen Belsen was one of these but many Jews perished within their own countries at sites such as Fort Breendonk and Camp Vught. About three-quarters of the Jewish population of The Netherlands were killed – the highest percentage in Western Europe – and in Belgium of about 66,000 Jews in the country around 28,000 were murdered during the Holocaust.

Day 1: Arrival and Jewish Amsterdam: Fly London to Amsterdam or join tour at the Amsterdam hotel. Afternoon walking tour of historic Amsterdam where we learn about the rich pre-war Jewish community in the city – a ‘Jerusalem of the West’ – so brutally destroyed by the Nazis. We visit the Holocaust Memorial and Memorial to Auschwitz Victims. Hotel in Amsterdam – 2 nights. (D).

Day 2: The Holocaust in Amsterdam: Today we visit the National Holocaust Museum of The Netherlands which relates the day-to-day life of Jews on the eve of World War Two and the deeply moving story of the persecution of a people and their way of life. We continue to the Dutch Theatre, taken over by the Nazis, and used as a deportation point for thousands of victims who were sent from here to concentration and extermination camps. At the Jewish Museum we learn about the faith itself including its customs, rituals and festivals. After some free/rest time and an early dinner we proceed to the Anne Frank House, the ‘secret annex’ where Anne and her family hid from the Nazis until their tragic betrayal and deportation. (B, D).

Day 3: Sites of Incarceration and Deportation: We leave Amsterdam and travel to Camp Vught, the only SS concentration camp outside Germany, where 31,000 prisoners were incarcerated including Jews, Gypsies and homosexuals. The exhibition here includes highly moving personal stories and objects as testimony to the suffering of these prisoners. Crossing into Belgium we travel to Mechelen and the Dossin Barracks from where Jews, Sinti and Roma were deported to the camps of the east. Of the 25,843 people who passed through here only 1,240 survived the war. The museum describes the horrors of the Holocaust in Belgium and the all-too real prevalence of human rights violations in the contemporary world. Hotel in Mechelen – 1 night. (B, D).

Day 4: Fort Breendonk and Aachen: Our day starts with a visit to Fort Breendonk, an early twentieth century fort repurposed by the SS as a prison for Jews, resistance fighters and opponents of the Nazi regime. Within its grim walls thousands of victims were tortured and hundreds murdered. The fort is one of the best-preserved Nazi ‘perpetrator’ sites in Europe. We drive to Aachen, the first German city liberated in World War Two, where we have some free time to explore the beautiful centre. Hotel in Aachen - 1 night. (B, D).

Day 5: A cradle of twisted ideology: This morning we visit the Vogelsang Documentation Centre set in the wooded Eifel hills to the south of Aachen, the beauty of the region belying the twisted ideology that was nurtured here. On a guided tour of the monolithic buildings, we learn about Vogelsang’s role as an indoctrination centre for elite Nazi cadres who left here to implement their brutal and sadistic methods. Drive to Hannover (4 hours 30 mins) and our hotel for one night. (B, D).

Day 6: Bergen-Belsen: We travel to the site of the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp, amongst the most emblematic and chilling examples of the Nazi camp system on German soil, initially set up to house Jewish hostages. Of the approximately 120,000 prisoners held here between 1943 and 1945, at least 52,000 perished. Many thousands died of the effects of their imprisonment even after liberation by the British on 15th April 1945. It was here that Anne Frank and her sister Margot died in February or March 1945. Our guided tour here will relate these events in an informative and sensitive manner. We also visit the memorial at the nearby railway loading ramp where prisoners – including the Frank sisters – would have arrived and departed to other camps. Drive to Hamburg and our hotel for two nights. (B, D).

Day 7: Neuengamme and Hamburg: This morning we have a guided tour of the Neuengamme Concentration Camp Memorial, the main camp for north-west Germany, where the main focus of forced labour was the production of clinker bricks. Between 1938 and 1945 almost 100,000 Jews, Sinti, Roma and ‘anti-socials’ as well as Soviet prisoners of war were held here. Nearly 24,000 perished through overwork, poor conditions, disease, execution and during forced marches at the end of the war. We return to Hamburg where the afternoon is free to explore this remarkable city. (B, D).

Day 8: Westerbork Transit Camp: We drive back into The Netherlands (4 hours) to the Westerbork Transit Camp, to which the country’s Jews and other groups were sent before eventual transportation by train to Auschwitz, Sobibór and Bergen-Belsen. Our guided tour of the museum and nearby site includes the ‘102,000 stones’ memorial, each representing a person who was transported from here and murdered. Anne Frank and her family were sent here on 8th August 1944 after their discovery. Only weeks later they were deported on what was the last transport to Auschwitz from Westerbork. Hotel in Westerbork area – 1 night. (B, D).

Day 9: Naarden and depart: On our last day we drive back to Amsterdam Schiphol airport via the handsome town of Naarden. Here we stop to admire the imposing bastions and picturesque streets and perhaps reflect on the moving narrative of the tour. There are opportunities to take lunch here before we proceed to the airport and our flight back to London (or you may want to extend your time in The Netherlands). (B).