The Anne Frank House

   

  Yesterday we went to the Anne Frank house and museum.  The only way to get tickets is to order on-line for a specific time slot.  This avoids long lines and hordes of people crushing into a small space.  As it was, people moved slowly and with purpose as they proceeded through, reading the quotes and listening to the recorded message for each room.

A page from Anne's Diary 

      We had tickets for an educational program of 30 minutes preceding our visit to the museum/house.  My daughter and I were surprised at how few people, when the presenter asked,  had read Anne's diary.  My grandchildren, daughter and I, and a couple of others were the only ones from a group of about 35 people, who had actually read the book, and were familiar with people she wrote about.

Pictures from the introductory talk 

      The talk was very informative.  It gave the kids background information about the family and why the family was  forced into hiding.  It prepared us all for what we would see in the museum and the annex where the family hid for over two years.   The tour was self guided.  There was really little to 'see'.  It was more of an emotional experience to walk through the rooms and cramped quarters of the annex.  When Otto Frank, Anne's father and sole survivor from the family, set up the foundation and museum, he was very specific about not having anything in the rooms.  He had lost all he loved; the Germans took everything and left  him with nothing, and that is how it was to remain.  

      You got a feel for how life was organized for them; how they had to be so very quiet during the weekdays; no toilet flushing or running water or walking around on the squeaky floors, during the day when the warehouse below was in operation.  You saw how the windows were blacked over so no light escaped at night, and you saw the attic where Anne could get a glimpse of sky and a small breath of fresh air.  

     Reading her diary made it all come to life as you walked through.  In her diary Anne mentioned how dreary her room was but that her father had brought her collection of film star posters and picture postcards which she put up on the walls--check her diary entry of July 11, 1942--to make it more cheerful.  These walls are still intact and protected for posterity.  

      This visit is a must-see for anyone visiting Amsterdam.