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Anne Frank House
Anne Frank House:
An Important Museum
CURTIS CASEWIT
Special to The Jewish News
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A
mong Amsterdam's
forty museums, none
is as touching as the
Anne Frank House, at 263
Prinsengracht.
You get there easily on foot
or by taxi from your hotel.
You can also take a glass-
covered boat; it stops at other
museums as well.
The Ann Frank House faces
a canal — one of the hundred
or so waterways in Amster-
dam The narrow building is
gabled like others built in the
17th century. But it has in-
credibly steep, tight little
steps that hint at the Frank
family's discomfort. It was
here that on July 6, 1942, on
the run from the Nazis, Anne
Frank and her family began
to hide in a tiny annex. It was
concealed by a bookcase
which is still there, almost 50
years later.
Otto Frank gave his
daughter her first diary at
age 13. The clothbound diary
sits in a glass case in the
musuem. Her concerns
emerge soon enough. "The
good times flee rapidly," she
wrote. "Jews may not take
part in public sports. Swimm-
ing, tennis, hockey and other
activities are now forbidden.
Jews are forbidden to drive
and even to ride the train.
They must turn in their
bicycles."
Museum documents show
that there was no escape from
persecution. The Franks, like
so many others, had applied
to the American consulate for
a visa. "Form #6" indicates
that they were on the
Curtis Casewit is a writer in
Denver.
"waiting list." They never
heard from the U.S. Consul
again.
In the meantime, teen-ager
Anne adorned her bedroom
with photos of pre-war
celebrities. The pictures of
Ray Milland, Deanna Durbin,
a young Simone Simon, a
thirtyish Greta Garbo are
still pasted on Anne's wall,
under low ceilings.
There is also a German
postcard which reads, "Fur
jeden ein bisschen gluk — Fur
alle scheint die Sonne —"
"For everyone a little luck/For
everyone shines the sun —"
Ann Frank didn't see
daylight during the two years
she and her family hid in the
annex, the windows were
covered with paper, a precau-
tion. She learned from
another Jewish family what
went on outside. "No one is
spared," she wrote. "Old peo-
ple, babies, expectant
mothers, the sick, all must
join in the March of death —"
The display entries alter-
nate with photos of Anne's
sensitive, soulful face. Her
anguish is clear. "How op-
pressive it is never to go out-
doors! I'm afraid we shall be
discovered and shot," she
wrote, adding, "Not a plea-
sant prospect."
There are still school books
in the Secret Annex, which
Anne describes as "damp and
leaning to one side."
The various rooms include
a now rusty toilet that
couldn't be used in daytime,
for fear of discovery.
Visitors often stand ten-
deep in front of the exhibits,
studying the photos, reading
the journal extracts. Despite
the crowds, there is utterly
stunned silence in the
museum.