Mr. Albert Dussel is the last man to join the families of the Franks and Van Daans in the secret Annexe in Amesterdam. He is a dentist and an acquaintance of the Franks who arrange for his hide in the annexe. His real name is Fritz Pfeffer but Anne calls him Mr. Dussel in her diary. Mr. Dussel is given a room that he has to share with Anne Frank. Anne finds Mr. Dussel particularly a difficult man to deal with. Actually, she develops a total dislike of his odd habits. The most irritating are his odd personal hygiene habits. She doesn’t relish Dussel’s pedantic lectures. She strongly dislikes his controlling and patronising tendencies. Mr. Dussel is a Jew but he is married to a Christian woman. Dussel’s wife doesn’t go into hiding with him in the annexe. He is separated from her but she does send gifts to him on his birthday.
Mr. Dussel always keeps his eyes on the food. He eats and doesn’t talk. He consumes enormous proportions, and ‘no’ is not a part of his vocabulary. He goes on eating whether the food is good or bad. He is stingy and never shares his gifts, especially sweets or food items with others.
He is always studying. But Anne thinks that he is “never progressing”. His studying is interrupted only by his afternoon nap and food. The lavatory is the favourite spot of Mr. Dussel. He goes to this favourite spot four or five times a day. Someone is always waiting outside when he is inside the lavatory. But Mr. Dussel cares a whit for him.
Albert Dussel dies on December 20, 1944, at a concentration camp.
