The famous diary of Anne Frank describes her inmost thoughts and conditions of her life while hiding in the Secret Annex. Today, the rooms where the events of 1942 to 1944 took place allow visitors to sense that fateful location.
Anne Frank and the People in Hiding
Edicts put into effect by the Hitler regime in Germany drove many Jews to leave and immigrate to safer countries. Otto Frank moved his family from Germany to Amsterdam in the Netherlands, which was at that time a neutral country. He opened a business that sold jelling agents for jams and seasonings for meats. However, the Germans conquered Holland, and instigated stricter and stricter regulations, especially regarding the Jews. Otto Frank began preparations for a hiding place for his family.
By 1942, conditions in the Netherlands were deteriorating rapidly and Mr. Frank knew the time had come to initiate his plan. The family, consisting of Otto, his wife, Edith, and their two girls, Margot and Anne, moved into the prepared quarters on July 6.
The Van Pels family, Hermann, Auguste, and their son, Peter, joined them a short time later. Finally a dentist friend, Fritz Pfeffer, was added to those hidden behind and above the warehouse in Otto’s building.
Anne’s Diary
Prior to entering what Anne called “The Secret Annex”, she received a diary for her 13th birthday and began writing her thoughts to “Dear Kitty” as she termed her diary. The entries track the thoughts of a young girl living a normal life, going to school, enjoying friends, but yet knowing that, as Jews, her parents were concerned with the political climate.
Her world drastically changes on July 6, 1942, and she documents her thoughts as the move takes place. No one could have anticipated the years the family would spend in hiding nor that the words Anne would pen detailing their daily lives would become immortal and read by millions who find in her words a depiction of a tragic time in world history.
Anne’s diary is poignant and funny, somber and reflective, and provides the reader with insights into the dark days for Jews in Holland. The diary was left behind when the family was arrested on August 4, 1944, and taken away to various camps. It was found by the helpers from the business, Miep Gies and Bep Voskuijl, who went upstairs to see what was left after the soldiers left. Miep put the pages into a safe place until Otto was released at the end of the war.
Otto was the only survivor from the people hidden in the office building and he made the decision to publish Anne’s diary. It was first put into print in 1947 and has been a best seller for years. Anne’s written desire to be remembered as a famous writer has been fulfilled, even though she lost her life in March 1945 at Bergen-Belsen concentration camp.
Visiting the Secret Annex
After having read the book, “The Diary of Anne Frank,” it is enlightening to actually visit the place where the majority of the events took place. Amsterdam of the present day is not the same city it was in World War II. The mood on the streets now is joyful and life moves freely. This was not the case in the early 1940’s when fear predominated and an occupying army roamed the streets.
So entering the building which once housed the offices, storerooms, and the hidden apartment demands connecting with the past. The museum and gallery addition tell the story of Anne, her family and the war years as a prelude to entering the office complex itself.
The tour begins in the storerooms and offices which front on the street and provides a foundation for what the visitor knows happened behind the scenes. A huge bookcase, now permanently pulled back, once covered the small opening through which visitors climb to enter the rooms where eight people were hidden.
The small size of the rooms, the close quarters of the annex – even with the furnishings removed, the lack of outside light, the limited toilet facilities, and the sense of compact living for eight people, all combine to make Anne’s words come alive.
When visiting Anne’s room, which she shared with Fritz Pfeffer, the remains of her decorations are still on the walls. Her father and Miep had bought her books of movie stars from which she cut photos to paste on the barren walls, as well as colorful postcards from famous places. In this room, she read, studied, listened to the conversations of the house, talked, and shared her innermost thoughts with “Dear Kitty.”
Quotations from Anne’s diary are printed on the walls throughout the house in the areas to which they pertain. The ghosts of the Van Pels family, Fritz Pfeffer, as well as Anne’s family live on because of her words.
The Anne Frank House, opened in 1960, is operated by a foundation and keeps the memory of this young girl and her story before the world. It is a touching experience to walk through these rooms, knowing the history that they hold.
Ethel Brodie - Intrigued by the world, encouraged to write my observations, published in newspapers and magazines, and sharing special places.
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