Courage… strength… inspiration… heartbreak…
These are the words that come straight into my mind when I think about Anne Frank and her diary.
German-born Anne is probably the best-known victim of
the Jewish Holocaust during World War II. She and her family spent two
years hiding from the Nazis in a secret warehouse annex in Amsterdam,
protected by non-Jewish friends. Her diary tells the true story of a
young Jewish girl whose life dramatically changes within the course of
three years.
Anne had received the diary as a present from her
father, Otto, for her 13th birthday on June 12, 1942. It traces the
lives of her Amsterdam-based family as they are forced into hiding. As
Anne grew older, she went beyond mere description and wrote about more
abstract and philosophic matters, such as her belief in God and human
nature.
In 1933, when Hitler came to power, Anne Frank’s
father, Otto moved the family to Holland. After the Nazi occupation of
Holland on May 15, 1940, the lives of Jewish families like the Franks
became severely restricted. When Anne’s older sister Margot was called
up to go to Germany on July 5, 1942 for relocation to a work camp, the
Frank family’s lives changed forever.
The family faced arrest if Margot did not comply. But
her parents, sensing the impending call-up, had already organized a
secret hiding place, an empty section of Otto’s office building at 263
Prinsengracht. There was enough room for themselves, as well as Hermann
van Pels, Otto’s co-worker, his wife and son, Peter, and Fritz Pfeffer,
an acquaintance of the Frank family.
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| An exterior view of Anne Frank’s house |
I first read the diary when I was in primary school,
and again when I was in high school. Ten years later, I knew what it was
about, but I couldn’t remember the emotions I felt reading it. Perhaps I
had been too young.
Before I left Australia for a holiday in Europe, I
decided to read the diary again, which is also praised for its literary
qualities. I knew I would be visiting the house in Amsterdam, and I
wanted that experience to really mean something. I spent my mornings and
afternoons on the train to and from work, reading about the life, and
death, of Anne Frank. I was once again captivated by her innocence, the
terror she experienced and the trauma of her family and her life
underground.
I put myself into her place and lived the moments in
my mind, imagining what I would do in certain situations. I also allowed
myself to feel emotions towards Anne and her family. I got angry at her
mother, I admired her father and I loved Peter Van Pels as she did. I
wanted the moment that I stepped into her house in Amsterdam to be truly
unique. It was.
The house is located next to a canal, just a short
walk from the Central Station. Standing outside, I looked around at the
street Anne and her sister Margot stared at through closed curtains. I
saw the road where Anne had described seeing soldiers patrolling and
Jews fleeing, terrified, to escape the war.
Where she saw friends and neighbors taken away by the
army, marching towards certain death, I saw people dressed in clothes
Anne dreamed of owning, faces as beautiful as the pictures she cut from
magazines and posted on her walls, laughter and smiles as friends shared
stories and tourists scoured the streets in search of history.
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| Anna Frank’s book has been translated into 50 languages. |
As Anne looked onto these streets during the
heartache of World War II, she could never have imagined the happiness
the people are blessed with today. The streets were filled with traffic —
cars, buses, bikes — taking people to more destinations of enjoyment.
On the rare occasions Anne was able to sneak a look outside, the only
cars she saw were military; buses were full with Jews on their way to
concentration camps; and those on bikes were simply there in a failed
attempt to escape.
But looking at the streets outside the house was
nothing compared to being inside — as I’m sure was the same for Anne and
her companions.
The house is built in two sections and is four
stories high, with an attic. The back section of the two top floors
became the secret annex, where Anne and her family, the Van Pelses and
Fritz Pfeffer spent 25 months of their lives.
They lived there until they were captured in August
1944, when the annex was emptied of its furnishings by order of the
German occupier. It was an anonymous telephone call to the authorities
which led to their whereabouts. While it will never be known for certain
who reported them, two theories have surfaced. One alleged the betrayer
was Anton Ahlers, a Nazi and business associate of Otto Frank. The
second theory pointed to a Dutch cleaner named Lena Hartog-van Bladeren,
who worked in the office in front of the annex. But the true identity
of the betrayer will never be known. Those hidden were all deported and
sent to extermination camps, where all but one died.
Otto Frank, Anne’s father, was the only survivor
(Anne died from typhus and deprivation in March 1945 in the northern
German concentration camp Bergen-Belsen. She was just 15 years old).
Otto was found by the Russian Army at Auschwitz and upon recovery,
learned of the death of his wife and children. After the war, Anne’s
diary was found strewn across the office floor, where it was picked up
and hidden away. It resurfaced many years later and was given to her
father.
The annex has remained in its authentic state. It was
officially opened as a museum in 1960, and in 2004, recorded almost one
million visitors.
I was speechless as I walked the same corridors and
staircases that Anne and her family had walked. I had tears in my eyes
as I stepped through the worn bookcase, which served as a secret door to
the annex. And my heart pounded as I made my way into the make-shift
bedrooms. Although empty now, I was able to picture what they must have
looked like, and I couldn’t comprehend how each person survived for 25
months in such extreme conditions. I guess it was nothing compared to
life in concentration camps.
Even now as I think of it, I shudder at the image of
the small room that Anne shared with Fritz Pfeffer — the pictures she
had pasted to the wall to cheer her up, still there, faded and torn. A
reflection on a young life — long lost.
Had I walked into the secret annex where Anne Frank
and her family lived without reading the book beforehand, I don’t think I
would have truly understood what it meant to be there.
I would never have felt such despair walking into the
rooms that served as the kitchen, bathroom and bedrooms; I wouldn’t
have cared that there was barely enough space to fit a desk, let alone
two or three beds; and I wouldn’t have felt my heart pound as I
remembered how scared Anne had been as she wrote about the view from the
window or listened to the news on the radio.
As I walked through the annex, I thought about how
hard it must have been for Otto Frank to pack up his family and hide
them from the world for more than two years. To stop his daughters from
going out to play — from even looking out the window to feel the
sunlight on their faces. I can’t imagine how painful it must have been
for him to watch as the shine slowly faded from the eyes of those he
loved the most, knowing he was unable to help them.
I thought about Peter and Margot, and wondered what
might have happened to them had they survived the war. But mostly, I
thought about Anne and how she experienced hell first-hand, yet through
her diary — and sadly, her death — she has made so many people smile.
She was a young girl who dreamed of becoming a
journalist, but she lived and died in an unfortunate time. Her writing
has since inspired hundreds and her words have touched even the hardest
of hearts.
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| A bronze monument of Anne Frank commemorates her life. |
Through her adversity, the world has learned that
life is sometimes cruel. Hopefully, we have also learned that although
at times life may be tough, we should appreciate what we have, because
there will always be people who live their lives in a secret annex.
Anne Frank’s diary was published in 1947 in the Netherlands under the title Het Achterhuis
(The Annex). It was translated into more than 50 languages, sold
millions of copies and is still in print. It was adapted as a Broadway
play in 1955 and a film (1959). In 1997, Natalie Portman starred as Anne
in a new version of the play.
If You Go
Anne Frank House
Prinsengracht 267
Amsterdam
The Netherlands
Phone +31 (0)20 – 5567100
Fax +31 (0)20 – 6207999
Museum Opening Hours Info Tape +31 (0)20-5567105
www.annefrank.org
Anne Frank Center New York
www.annefrank.com
Tags: Tourist for you, du lich cho ban, lua chon du lich cho ban, tap chi du lich cho ban, tourist Magazine. |
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