Anne Frank Haus

It just boggles the mind when you walk around beautiful Amsterdam and then step back and think about the atrocities that took place here not that long ago. When I looked at this reminder of Anne's life and death, I couldn't help but notice that my mom was five years old when Anne was born. All of this took place in her lifetime. Astonishing.

When it comes to matters such as these, I can hardly hold back the tears when I think of us, as humans, having the ability to hurt other people in ways so horrific. How can one human being treat another as if their life is meaningless? I can not grasp that and I find it extremely hard thinking about the holocaust. When the Holocaust Museum opened in Washington, DC, I was unable to visit. I cannot bring myself to witness these visions. (I do, however, talk openly with my kids about such things. They need to know and learn from these horrible acts.) And so, when it came to visiting the Anne Frank House, I have to admit, I had my reluctance. If it had been in the United States, I would have pushed it off and said, "next time." Since I never know when and if I will return to a city, I try and take in as much as I can. The Anne Frank House was a must even thought it tore me up inside. Even now, as I write this, tears flow down my cheeks; and perhaps this is why I have put it off so long in writing.

Amsterdam is an absolute lovely place to visit. All of the canals are so beautiful, intwined throughout the city. Some of these pics are the kid's. I think he has a really good eye, don't you? All of the canals in these pictures are located around the "Secret Annex," one directly in front of the warehouse. It's these beautiful sights that help make Anne's years in the "Annex" so poignant. Here was a child, a teenager, with a world just outside her windows unable to enjoy the sights, the smells, the feelings. Two years cooped up. Simply remarkable.


The warehouse is unassuming. You wouldn't even know what it was if it weren't for the line to get in for the tour. We were told to come after 4 to avoid a long line. We only had to wait 30 minutes or so before entering. This statue of Anne is located just before the row of buildings the warehouse is located within. Just on the other side of this alley is a beautiful old, huge, church. This carving was located on one of the eves. I thought it was quite appropriate.

Anne could look out a window, head turned, and see the steeple of the church. Even though it was obviously a Christian church, I can't help but wonder if she looked out the window and prayed to God with this visual.


To give you an idea of the warehouse and annex, I copied this from one of the many books and postcards we purchased there. It took this diagram for me to understand just where I was in the building. The floors in green are the "Secret Annex."

263 Prinsengracht

This is the front of the building where the warehouse was located. The "Annex" was located in the back, on the right here--I borrowed this pic. As you walk through, as a self-guided tour, I actually didn't realize I was walking from the front of the building to the back. It was later that I figured out the annex was located in the back. The stairs are tiny. (I

noticed this all over Amsterdam. The staircases are extremely narrow and steep because the buildings are the same. (There were some restrooms in cafe's I refused to visit because of this. I could see myself falling down them and making a complete fool of myself!) There were no pictures allowed, so, again, I am borrowing some. You can see by this picture of the staircase how steep it is. Amazing. It is here that the staircase hidden by the bookcase is.


The rooms were surprisingly large with big windows. I'm sure they had to keep them covered, though. Anne's bedroom was one of the smallest. She later shared this with Fritz Pfeffer, a dentist. (Peter's room was the smallest out of all of them because it had a ladder going up to the attic right in the middle of it. I ran my hand over the well-worn wooden slats and said a prayer for all their souls.) The old clippings were still on the wall that she had decorated with. I couldn't help but run my hand over areas I knew she had touched to feel her. There was a game board that Peter had received as a birthday present while in hiding still hanging on the wall. Life went on here, despite the fact they feared for their lives each moment of their existence here.

Once you finished in Peter's room, you walked across a glass floor passage back towards the front of the warehouse where they displayed different items about the concentration camps. The room was floored and walled in stainless steel which made it very cold. It was quite emotional to go from an area of life into what was sure to be cold facts of their deaths after being turned in.


After this room, you went back downstairs to a room that housed the diaries and other displays. I didn't' know that her diary was the same as many I had growing up, complete with lock and key. When she filled this one up, she began writing in tablets of paper. The diary, in itself, brought Anne into my heart. This could have been any child during that time. But, it was Anne who brought this story into our lives, so vividly, in her writings. I wish she would have survived. Although, if she had lived, millions of people wouldn't have been able to feel the true inhumanities of the times. We have to feel she was given to us by God for a short amount of time for this reason. I am humbled by her life and death.

"It'’s a wonder I haven'’t abandoned all my ideals, they seem so absurd and impractical. Yet I cling to them because I still believe, in spite of everything, that people are truly good at heart.

It's utterly impossible for me to build my life on a foundation of chaos, suffering and death. I see the world being slowly transformed into a wilderness, I hear the approaching thunder that, one day, will destroy us too, I feel the suffering of millions. And yet, when I look up at the sky, I somehow feel that everything will change for the better, that this cruelty too shall end, that peace and tranquility will return once more" - July 15, 1944

Here are two links you may be interested in looking at:

The Anne Frank Museum Amsterdam

The Anne Frank Center

We must always remember.