A few tens of thousands of Dutch Jews tried to go into hiding to escape deportation, but many of them were betrayed. Going into hiding is not easy; you have to find a good hiding place, have enough money, acquire a false identity card, and arrange for dependable outside assistance. That last factor depends, in large part, on your network of personal contacts. Of course, some Jewish households had non-Jewish cousins or in-laws as result of mixed marriages. Other families had non-Jewish contacts from work, sports, or political activities. But people in the Netherlands tended to lead their lives within their own religious or belief communities in those days, a phenomenon called verzuiling ('pillarization'). Many Jews in Amsterdam and other major cities had no money and no one to turn to for help. Furthermore, not everyone could be trusted. Some Jews didn't want to go into hiding because they were unwilling to put other people in danger. After all, you can be betrayed at any time. 

Jews were active in countless Jewish and mixed resistance groups. Some groups forged identity cards and found hiding places, while others tried to help Jews escape from holding centres like the Hollandsche Schouwburg.

The Frank family received help from six employees of Otto Frank: Victor Kugler, Miep and Jan Gies, Jo Kleiman, Bep Voskuijl and her father Johan Voskuijl, who was in charge of the storeroom. Since Johan was very good with his hands, he was asked to build a bookcase that would conceal the entrance to the Secret Annex. Frank's employees also helped in other ways – by running errands, for example, and borrowing books from the library. They also passed on messages and news to the people in hiding.

The aim of Nazi policy from March 1943 onwards was to track down all Jews in hiding. Adults and children who were captured were brought to the Hollandsche Schouwburg in Amsterdam and other holding centres by members of the Henneicke Column, a group of ruthless Dutch Jew-hunters led by Wim Henneicke. They received a bounty for each captured Jew: seven and a half guilders. The police force's department of Jewish affairs was also involved in hunting down Jews in hiding. There were also other Dutch people who chose to report Jews. 

People who had gone into hiding received especially harsh treatment from the German occupying authorities. They were sent to Westerbork transit camp as 'criminal cases' and housed in one of the special punishment barracks there. Most criminal cases were quickly sent on to the extermination camps. One such case was Frieda Brommet. The Brommet family, who had paid a lot of money to send her into hiding, were not only cheated but also, in the end, betrayed. The members of the family were sent to Westerbork transit camp and housed in barracks 67, the punishment barracks. 

It was rare for all the members of a family to go into hiding in the same place and quite common to move from one place to another. Babies and very young children were easier to place than adults and had better chances of surviving. Besides Jews who could not go into hiding, there were also Jews who chose not to, because they didn't want to be separated from their children. The decision to send away your child into hiding was difficult for parents, for obvious reasons. Children sometimes refused to go into hiding for fear of the consequences for their parents. It was especially difficult for ill or elderly people to find hiding places. Very few non-Jews were willing to take in Jews who needed special care or might soon become seriously ill. The diary kept by Anne Frank offers a gripping and incisive portrayal of life in hiding and the fear of discovery. She describes her state of mind after about three and a half weeks in the Secret Annex: