other characters in her diary); she called them "Van Daan" in her diary. Although their helpers are today known almost exclusively by their own names, the Franks' fellow occupants in the achterhuis retain their pseudonyms in many editions and adaptations of Anne's diary. Hermann van Pels (31 March 1898 – October 1944; known as Hans in the first manuscript of the diary) was murdered in Auschwitz, being the first of the eight to die. He was the only member of the group to be gassed. However, according to eyewitness testimony, this did not happen on the day he arrived there. Sal de Liema, an inmate at Auschwitz who knew both Otto Frank and Hermann van Pels, said that after two or three days in the camp, Van Pels mentally "gave up", which was generally the beginning of the end for any concentration camp inmate. He later injured his thumb on a work detail and requested to be sent to the sick barracks. Soon after that, during a sweep of the sick barracks for selection, he was sent to the gas chambers. This occurred about three weeks after his arrival at Auschwitz, most likely in very early October of 1944, and his selection was witnessed by both his son Peter and by Otto Frank. Auguste van Pels (29 September 1908 – April 1945; known as Petronella in the diary), born Auguste Röttgen (Hermann's wife), whose date and place of death are unknown. Witnesses testified that she was with the Frank sisters during part of their time in Bergen-Belsen, but that she was not present when they died in February/March. According to German records (her registration card), Mrs. Van Pels was sent to Bergen-Belsen concentration camp in Germany with a group of eight women on November 26, 1944. Hannah Goslar's testimony was that she spoke to Mrs. Van Pels through the barbed wire fence "in late January or early February". Auguste was transferred on February 6, 1945 to Raguhn (Buchenwald in Germany), then to the Czechoslovakia camp Theresienstadt on April 9, 1945. This same card lists her as being alive on April 11, 1945. As such, she must have died en route to Theresienstadt or shortly after her arrival there, the date of her death occurring most likely the either the first half or mid-April 1945, but before May 8, 1945, when the camp was liberated. Rachel van Amerongen-Frankfoorder, eyewitness of Auguste's