21 June 2019
Today our class visited the Anne Frank house. The tour first started off at the museum with a brief overview of the holocaust and the Frank family. Unfortunately, you are unable to take pictures throughout the museum, but an audio tour was provided to each student to make the experience the story through quotes and videos. Everyone was able to visit the secret annex, where Anne Frank hid for more than 2 years during WWII. The Van Pels family and Fritz Pfeffer also hid with the Frank family. The house has no furniture in it, but there are still pictures on the wall that Anne hung in her bedroom when they first started hiding. There were also short videos with the audio tour explaining the hard times throughout the Holocaust and interviews of survivors. There were also brief stories of individuals that knew the Frank family and how they helped them hide upstairs and be quiet so the offices downstairs didn’t hear them. The best part of the tour for me was walking through the bookcase that lead to the secret annex upstairs.
Most of us grew up learning about Anne Frank in school and reading her diaries so it was a surreal experience walking through the secret annex. The Frank family was not allowed to talk, walk around, or use running water during the day just in case someone downstairs heard them. There were 4 living spaces and 1 bathroom. There was also an attic in the house that they could go up to during the day, although they had to be careful looking out the windows just in case someone would see them.
In the museum, Anne Franks diaries were displayed in a glass cases. She actually rewrote her diary once and wrote short stories while she was in hiding. An interesting fact that I learned was the year of 1943 is missing in her diary, and was missing when they were first given to her father Otto after the war. This tour was a once in a life time experience and think it is amazing that her legacy is being lived on through the museum and her diaries.
- Sarah Haye
Public Health Abroad! 