learning about ANNE frank
Before coming to Amsterdam, we made sure to learn about the important story of Anne Frank by reading her diary and watching a show about her. During our stay in Amsterdam, we visited her hiding place.
From the minute we started thinking about this trip, we knew that we were going to read The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank. Reading Anne’s diary has truly sent me on an emotional roller coaster. Anne was 13 years old when she went into hiding. I’m 13 now, and I can relate somewhat to how she was feeling. Of course, I can never relate to what she was going through, but I can imagine her struggles. This book is so important to read. It is just incredible.
On Disney+, there is a show called A Small Light. In this show, Anne Frank is not the main character; Miep Gies is. She was the one of the people who risked her life to save the Frank and Van Pels families. After surviving the war, she told everybody her story. This absolutely spectacular show is based on her experience. I recommend it to everyone. I really enjoyed learning about Anne’s story from a different perspective.
And of course, we visited the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam. The house was not her home at all; it was the office building of her father, and ultimately, their hiding place. The bottom floors and office act as a museum now, where letters and photos from those in hiding, as well as the people who were helping them, are on display. And of course, Anne’s actual diary is on display.
We climbed up to the Secret Annex (in Anne’s words), just behind a bookshelf that hid its door. It was just so incredibly small. The ceilings are low and the stairs are super steep. A total of eight people (The Frank family, the Van Pel Family, and their friend who was a dentist) were in hiding. They had to share bedrooms, sometimes with up to three people. They had one bathroom, one kitchen, one everything for eight people. They could not move at all during the day because just downstairs was still a working office. No bathroom use and no eating, except at designated times when the office was closed. They had blackout sheets on their windows so it was pitch black. Mr. Frank had a map on the wall and used pins to track Nazi troops and the Allies after he heard the news on the radio. It was so heartbreaking. I just could not imagine myself in Anne’s place.
For me, the saddest part was that Anne and her family were so close to surviving the war. The war was just months from ending.
Anne Frank’s story is so important to learn. I really loved two beautiful things that she wrote in her diary:
“I don’t think of all the misery but of the beauty that still remains.”
and