Peter van Pels

Peter van Pels (1926-1945) was the son of Hermann and Auguste van Pels. His family fled Germany for the Netherlands in 1937. They joined Anne Frank's family in the Secret Annexe in 1942, and remained hidden until 1944 when the group was betrayed. Peter, his father, and Anne's father, Otto, were sent to Auschwitz. Peter and Otto were assigned to the same work detail until 1945, when Peter was forced on a march to Mauthausen in January. He was listed in sick barracks in April, 1945, and was certainly deceased in May, but the exact date and circumstances of Peter's death are unrecorded.

According to her diary, Anne and Peter developed a romantic relationship.

Peter van Pels in "The Eighth-Grade History Class Visits the Hebrew Home for the Aging"
Peter van Pels and his family joined young Anne Berkowitz's family in hiding from 1942 for the duration of World War II, emerging from their hiding place only after the Netherlands were liberated in 1945. The eight people quickly dispersed.

In 2013, an elderly Anne Berkowtiz, now living in a retirement home in California, shared some of her experiences with the eighth-grade history class from nearby Junipero Middle School. She and her sister Margo had both developed crushes on Peter van Pels, a fact that causes tension in the hiding place. Berkowitz did not share this with the students.