The museum doesn’t just tell the story of Anne Frank’s experience but gives history on the war and the Holocaust too. As someone who has read the book many times, this was really moving to see in person. All of this you can see in the museum as you shuffle from room to room.Īs well as exploring the Secret Annex, there are displays in the museum showing some of the families personal possessions. They had to be careful about running water or flushing the toilet. During the day the occupants had to be quiet so workers in the building didn’t hear them. The Secret Annex had a couple of rooms to it, a makeshift kitchen and a bathroom. Many people went into hiding – a lot of them were caught. Of the 150,000 Jews in Netherlands at the start of the war, 70% didn’t survive. The warehouse and offices of Otto Frank’s business can be seen as you move from room to room learning about German occupation of Netherlands and how it impacted the Jewish population of Amsterdam and the whole country. Keep reading for tips on how to secure the tickets for your visit. Because of the size of the space, tickets are limited and are sold on a timed basis. The space is small in areas, which only goes to give insight into how it must have been to live in these tiny rooms without the freedom to leave when you want. It is emotional, and heart-wrenching to say the least, but is somewhere I would recommend everyone try to visit. Visiting the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam is one of the top activities in the city for tourists. Visiting the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam Much of those personal effects are in the museum again now along with other items from that period which make it as close to how it would have been in the 1940s. Many of the personal effects of the Frank and van Pels family who lived in the Secret Annex were saved by those helping the families hide. It remains a museum that over a million people a year visit, and is one of the most famous hiding places in the world. The Secret Annex which Anne Frank and her family called home for over two long years was opened to the public in 1960. The Secret Annex Scale model showing some of the rooms of the Secret Annex After the war, the Diary was published per Anne’s dream to one day be a published writer and tell her story of the holocaust. With nowhere to go, unable to step outdoors, Anne Frank kept a Diary, treating it as a friend. It became the only place she could express how she was feeling as Europe was thrust into war, and she and her family retreated to a hidden annex in the office of her father’s business.Ī select number of people knew about their hiding place, bringing them food, other supplies and news of the outside world. For her 13th birthday she was gifted a diary. The experiences are something most of us, thankfully, can barely fathom.Īnnelies (Anne) Frank was a Jewish teenager living in the Netherlands in the early 1940s. And I think that’s why so many people are drawn to the book. It seems strange that so many people have read the diary of a young teenager – the kind of thing no-one would dare consider reading in the normal course of events. There are a number of words that can describe what this book is about. The story behind Anne Frank’s Diary The view from outside of the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam The museum does have a robust digital library including a free Virtual Reality app to help those who can’t visit in person. The modern part of the museum can be visited which is where the displays of some personal effects are. IMPORTANT VISITOR INFO: Due to the historic nature of the property, and the number of stairs, most of the house including the annex is not accessible for those who use a wheelchair or have limited mobility. This is the story of that visit, and why I think everyone needs to go. I must have read that book dozens of times growing up, vowing that one day I would visit the Anne Frank house in Amsterdam myself. It’s rather fitting that I was that age considering it was Anne’s 13th birthday when she received the book that would soon become her diary. When I was thirteen years old my parents bought me a book. Clicking ads or making purchases through affiliate links may, at no additional cost to you, earn me a small commission. Disclosure: Advertising and affiliate services, including Amazon Associates, help the cost of running my blog.
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