The Anne Frank House, Amsterdam

Anne Frank was a young Jewish teenager during World War 2, living in Amsterdam, Netherlands. She kept a diary. Nine of her entries (June 14 – July 8, 1942) were written in open society, though under German occupation. The remaining entries in her diary were written in the “Secret Annex” (a secret living space) on Prinsengracht Canal. And even though every entry of her diary was written during the war, its focus isn’t so much about war, but on living in confined quarters under the uncertainly of life, while at the same time growing up, learning, reading, aspiring, getting along with others, depending on God, finding love, and coping with depression (September 16, 1943). She writes things in her diary that touch us and speak to hope, fear and despair. Her diary is about life and how it unfolds before us, and outside anything we would ever plan for ourselves. It says a lot about character development, ambitions, mothers and fathers, loves gained and lost, sexual development, our need for nature, and even God. It didn’t take long for me to line up columns to   note what pages spoke to these issues. Her diary is powerful, raw and authentic.

I’ve read her diary twice in my life, once as a teenager, in 1962 or perhaps 1963 and again this year (2017). I never thought I would visit the “Secret Annex” back in sixties. I was a young teen, like her back then, but unlike her I lived in a time of peace. Back then visiting the Secret Annex was unimaginable to me. That changed sometime in the late nineties when my parents went to Europe and brought back a visitor’s guide from the Anne Frank House. Then I thought, someday I will visit this place, where a special girl once lived and for whom I felt a loss when I learned at end of her diary, she did not survive her third German concentration camp (Bergen-Belsen). She died of typhus, not long after her sister.

Well, in anticipation of going to Amsterdam this year, I read the Diary of Anne Frank a second time. It renewed many thoughts and feelings I had as a teen. I had once identified with Anne as a youth. I too struggled with who I was, with relationships with my parents and other adults, with what I was all about and wanted to do in life. I’d almost forgotten these thoughts and feelings. She had shared her inner life, her hopes and uncertainties. She seemed as if she were a close friend again. It was a kind of reconnection. Though she had died, she was still speaking. Her book, in spite of her death, encourages us about how to live life. It’s as if she said, “My faith is more powerful than evil.” In this her diary is quite eloquent.

Reading the Diary this time, I saw more clearly how the political upheaval and military events of that day were foundational to her family’s circumstances and how the political events today impact on my life today. The “Afterword,” included in my 1993 edition of the diary, reminded me why Hitler rose to power (his appeal to many people who were discontented and their desire to be restored to greatness). Though not an editorial on our world’s political situation, it could well speak to many countries in the world today. I then made a tally of freedoms that were lost or restricted under German occupation (June 20, 1942, October 9, 1942, November 19, 1942 and June 15, 1943). I asked myself again and again how so many civil rights could be so easily taken from a people and country (Holland).

 

Let me describe our visit to the Anne Frank House. The house is located on one of many canals in the old city center of Amsterdam. It is an area of narrow streets, too few places to park a car or van, many bicycles, many small shops and cafes. Within half a block there is the Westerkerk Church and Westertoren (bell tower and clock). Anne speaks on several occasions of the clock in her diary (July 11, 1942 and August 10, 1943). I looked for the clock tower and it was easy to find. It dominates the skyline of the neighborhood.

The tour of the house is highly managed. No photographs are allowed to be taken inside the house, though, as you can see, I was able to take many of the house from the outside and of the neighborhood. If you happen to have a camera bag, you will have to rotate it to your front side. Be careful so as not to trip. Despite these shortcomings, I am glad I visited the house. The organization for maintaining this facility was wound tightly. Crowds consumed the sidewalks and filled nearby cafes, even though some (I am sure) were not able to get tickets. Last year (2016) over 1.29 million people visited the Anne Frank House.

The “Annex” portion of the house is actually to the rear of the building that faces the canal. The building’s quarters are tight and stairs are narrow. During the tour you will also pass by the moveable bookcase into the annex. Once inside the “Annex” you will see Otto & Edith Frank’s bedroom and Margot’s room, Anne and Albert Dussel’s bedroom, the Van Daan’s bedroom (kitchen, dining area and living quarters, and Peter’s hallway bedroom. You will also see the stairs that ascend to the attic. To see photos of these spaces, you can visit the Anne Frank House Website (http://www.annefrank.org/en/). This website has a 3-D virtual tour. By the way, you will notice that the names of many of the inhabitants in the house actually had other names. That is because Anne re-wrote her diary once she had decided she would one-day publish it. Her pseudonyms included: Albert Dussel (real name Fritz Pfeffer), Herman, Auguste and Peter van Dann (real names: Herman, Auguste and Peter van Pels). The pseudonyms have been used in various editions instead of their actual names.

Before you go to the house, I recommend reading Anne’s diary. With her words fresh in your memory, you might be able to hear her “speak” as I did when I moved from room to room, experienced the overall size of the building, the steep stairs, their sleeping quarters, and the layout of the rooms. I sensed the crowds moving through the Annex had a feeling of sadness for her loss. It was a sort of reverential quietness. It was quite an experience.

Here is my diagram of the quarters where the van Pels (Herman & Auguste van Daan), the Franks (Otto, Edith, Margo and Anne Frank) and Fritz Pfeffer (Albert Dussel) stayed:

                  

                    

The museum portion of the tour includes videos and photos of family and the history of the time. The museum is located in the warehouse portion of the Anne Frank House (the front of the building). There is a very good museum shop within the facility. There you can purchase post cards with photos of the Annex, DVDs, and books about the period.

Allow me to quote Anne on several subjects:

Nature

1944 February 23 – “But I looked out of the open window too, over a large area of Amsterdam, over all the roofs and on to the horizon, which was such a pale blue that it was hard to see the dividing line. ‘As long as this exists, I thought, and I may live to see it, this sunshine, the cloudless skies, while this lasts, I cannot be unhappy.”

God

1944 February 03 – “The best remedy for those who are afraid, lonely, or unhappy is to go outside, somewhere where they can be quite alone with the heavens, nature, and God. Because only then does one feel that all is as it should be and that God wishes to see people happy, amidst the simple beauty of nature.”

 1944 July 06 – “He [Peter] has no religion, scoffs at Jesus Christ, and swears, using the name of God, although I’m not orthodox either, it hurts me every time I see how deserted, how scornful, and how poor he really is. ….People who have a religion should be glad, for not everyone has the gift of believing in heavenly things.”

 1944 Jul 15 – “It’s really a wonder that I haven’t dropped all my ideals, because they seem so absurd and impossible to carry out. Yet I keep them, because in spite of everything I still believe that people are really good at heart. I simply can’t build up my hopes on a foundation consisting of confusion, misery, and death.”

 Anne’s Personal Ambitions

May 11, 1944 – “Now, about something else: you’ve known for a long time that my greatest wish is to become a journalist someday and later on a famous writer. Whether these leanings toward greatness (or insanity) will ever materialize remains to be seen, but I certainly have the subjects in my mind. In any case, I want to publish a book entitled Het Achterhuis [The Secret Annex] after the war. Whether I succeed or not, I cannot say, but my diary will be a great help.”

 Anne’s Character Development

July 15, 1944 – “I have one outstanding trait in my character, which must strike anyone who knows me for any length of time, and that is my knowledge of myself. I can watch myself and my actions, just like an outsider. The Anne of every day I can face entirely without prejudice, without making excuses for her, and watch what’s good and what’s bad about her. The ‘self-consciousness’ haunts me, and every time I open my mouth I know as soon as I’ve spoken whether ‘that ought to behave been different’ or ‘that was right as it was.’ There are so many things about myself that I condemn, I couldn’t begin to name them all. I understand more and more how true Daddy’s words were when he said, ‘All children must look after their own upbringing.’ Parents can only give good advice or put them on the right paths, but the final forming of a person’s character lies in their own hands.”

These quotes speak to both the horror of her situation, the fragility of life, and even hope in it. Anne reflects on her religion (faith) and about not having faith and concludes, it “keeps a person on the right path” and summed it up saying, “A quiet conscience gives you strength.” My take-away is that without some kind of faith we have no direction or hope, leaving us only despair.

 A memorial statue of Anne Frank is located at Westerkerk Church on Westermarkt Street.

A note about these quotes: I’ve discovered Anne’s Diary has been translated by various people in addition to portions of it being re-written by Anne herself. The text varies by translation. Also, some editions do not include every entry Anne wrote. The entries included or omitted are interesting in themselves. My mother’s edition was an edition published by Bantam Books in 1993. I liked the “Afterword” of that edition for the summary of events leading up to the occupation of Holland by Hitler’s Third Reich.

I am thankful for Meip Gies’s efforts to honor Anne by preserving her diary after the family’s arrest. Likewise, to Otto Frank and his tenacity to fulfil his daughter’s wish to be a published writer. These were important, but, what no one could do except Anne herself, was to make her a great author. She shares many observations on life and even though she lived a short life, she has accomplished far more than many writers, given sixty, seventy, or eighty years of life.

Scripture:

Genesis 1:27 – “So God created man in His own image…male and female He created them.”

 Exodus 20.13 – “Thou shall not murder.”

Leviticus 19:15 – “You shall do no injustice in court. You shall not be partial to the poor or defer to the great, but in righteousness shall you judge your neighbor.”

Psalm 139.13-16 – “God forms our innermost parts; He wove me in my mother’s womb. Give thanks to God, for we are fearfully and wonderfully made.”

Matthew 7:12 – “So in everything, do to others what you would have them for to you, for this sums up the Law and what the Prophets of God have said.”

John 13.34-35 – “A new command I (God) give to you: love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. Everyone knows you are a disciple, if you love one another like this.”

Matthew 8:5 – A Roman Centurion came to Jesus regarding his paralyzed servant. Jesus said, “I will come and heal him.”

Matthew 19:13 – “Allow children to come to me, because the kingdom of heaven belongs to them.”

John 4.10 – “Jesus answered the Samaritan woman, ‘If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks…’”

Acts 10.24-28 – “Peter told a large gathering of Jews, ‘God has shown me that I should not call any man (including Cornelius, a Roman centurion) impure or unclean.’”