ESSS Amsterdam: The Anne Frank House
Anne Frank is known the world over as a principal voice describing the horrors of the Holocaust and today we went to the Secret Annex, her home in hiding. Her diary became her best friend where she would write what she was experiencing, letters to her friends, and sometimes humorous fictitious names for other flatmates. In 1932, the Nazis won elections and Anne couldn't sit next to Germans at her school in Frankfurt. So her family fled to Amsterdam where her father, Otto, started a factory for a jam thickening agent like pectin. In 1940, the Netherlands surrendered after the bombing of Rotterdam, the Franks had to go into hiding, and they would spend the next 761 days in the Secret Annex before their arrest on August 4th, 1944. In February 1945 Anne and Margot died in Auschwitz of exhaustion along with all those who hid in the secret annex except her father who published Anne's diary in 1947.
Through her diary, Anne Frank was not only able to chronicle the fear and anxiety she felt as a fugitive of the Nazis but also explore her own personality and aspirations to become a writer. Her family said about a younger Anne "God knows everything, but Anne knows everything a little bit better" and how she changed and grew through her time in the Secret Annex came through in her diary. She gave us a candid, honest, and intimate perspective on the Holocaust. I also think her story can be a sort of memorial to the unknown soldier, except in this case the unknown victim of the Nazis. Otto Frank found some degree of healing in her story and I think others could have as well.
Her father also published her diary as a way to honor her wishes to one day become a writer and to commemorate her life. Due to his closeness to his daughter, though he lamented in a video interview how much of her inner thoughts and feelings were unknown to him, I think efforts to commemorate her were largely successful. It does raise some questions. What is the worth of a human soul? How do we measure its passing? Is one soul more impactful than another? Anne Frank's diary is unique but Anne Frank herself was one of millions. Can one soul be adequately commemorated and another not? Was Anne Frank commemorated well? I think the speaker said it best: "As well as possible...her story is being told." In that way, she mentioned that we were part of commemorating her, which was really cool.
I really enjoyed reading your post Tate! Learning about Anne Frank I believe fully deepens Amsterdam as a cultural capital. I loved how you said that her diary is unique, but she was one of millions. Her story has been a tribute to so many Jews who had similar situations and yet did not get commemorated. Having this in Amsterdam attracts so many who come and honor the victims of the Holocaust. Great post!
ReplyDeleteTotally awesome post Tate! I think Anne is so inspirational because she faced so many obstacles like you said she had constant fears and anxieties as a Jew in the Netherlands during Hitler's rule. There are so many antisemitic things happening even now so it is definitely a problem that still exists.
ReplyDeleteAnne Frank has so many obstacles that she had to overcome. Continuing to write in her journal in such a hard time in her life could not have been easy. Some things that hampered her was being a Jew. This somewhat still exists today because of the Anti-Semitism that still exists today.
ReplyDeleteLearning about this woman helps us to learn more about Amsterdam because of how it is with Jews and Germans taking over this area. As well as her influence on Amsterdam.