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Anne Frank Museum
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The "Achterhuis"
Anne Frank's house is a house like many others in old Amsterdam. It consists of two sections. On the street side, we see the property that was built in 1635. Behind it, there is another house, the "Achterhuis", which was built in 1740 and cannot be seen from the street.
There are lots of misunderstandings about the Achterhuis. It was more than just a small room and was actually a small house. As you couldn't see the building from the street and the structure of the buildings was quite complex, the Germans didn't find it. In 1940, the Frank family moved in. In 1941, the unused Achterhuis served as a shelter for the Frank and Van Daan families. The Achterhuis was closed off by a revolving book case.
The museum
We advise you to take into account that visiting the museum takes at least two to three hours, including queuing. The museum has a lot of visitors and there can be long waits. It is definitely worthwhile to join the queues. Anne Frank House is a modern museum that uses audiovisual media to show you how the Frank family lived, what tensions there were, who supplied them and so on. You will see the main property, the Achterhuis and a new section showing an exhibit. The museum is run by the Anne Frank Foundation, which strives for a world without discrimination, fascism and anti-Semitism.
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Anne Frank
Anne Frank was born in 1929 in Frankfurt am Main. In 1933, when Hitler came to power, the Frank family fled to the Netherlands. In 1940, they moved to Prinsengracht. At the same time, the Germans invaded the Netherlands and the family started organising shelter. In the meantime, Anne conscientiously wrote in her diary, which she received as a present for her 13th birthday. It already contains notes about the persecution of German Jews.
On 6th July 1942, the family moved into the Achterhuis permanently. They tried to keep life as normal as possible. The children kept up with their studies. They always had to keep quiet, though. Not everyone at the office of the Frank family knew about the Achterhuis. The bathroom and the toilet could not be used during the day. The servants supplied food and other necessities.
On 1st August 1944, after 25 months, Anne wrote the last words in her diary. On 4th August, the German police opened up the bookcase and both families were put on the last deportation train to Auschwitz. Anne died of typhoid in Bergen-Belsen in March 1945. Only her father survived.
The Diary
When Anne Frank's family was apprehended, her diary was safeguarded by helpers of the family. The Germans emptied the entire "Achterhuis" a while later. In 1947, the diary was published under the name the "Achterhuis". Since then, it has been published in more than 50 languages and more than 15 million copies have been sold.
The website.
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Photo: © Photographer: Hazlan Abdul hakim | Agency: Dreamstime.com
Text: GVDV - © AT-Europe bvba
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