Anne Frank Exhibits, Memorials In And Around Amsterdam
Anne Frank is a familiar story to just about every person alive. However, with the popular book and movie The Fault in Our Stars, the interest in Anne Frank has skyrocketed among our young readers.
For those who are lucky enough to visit Amsterdam with an interest in Anne Frank, these are some of the timeless sites to see that help tell the inspiring story of Anne Frank.
First, the Anne Frank House, Anne Frankhuis as the fine folks of Amsterdam know it. The Anne Frank House museum is home to the famed secret annex that housed the Frank family and others during World War II when the Nazi regime were searching out Jewish citizens to move to concentration camps to await death. Many view the Anne Frank House as inspirational, awe inspiring, and historic. Visitors experience how Anne Frank and others lived for two years during World War II. Visitors can expect to move through the entire museum in about an hour, and spend much more time than that waiting in line. The Anne Frank House, obviously, is a must visit while in Amsterdam.
About 20 minutes outside of Amsterdam’s center lies the town of Rivierenbuurt, which is the site of Anne Frank’s childhood home. The tourists are non-existent. The line, gone. The story of how Anne Frank and her family spent their lives before the horror of the Holocaust, beautifully restored. The home serves as a safe haven for writers who are not able to speak or write freely in their country. Thus, the inside of the home is not open to the public. The only way the public knows that Anne Frank spent her childhood in the town is simply by a bronze statue and a sign that reads “ANNE FRANK 1929-1945”
A few streets away from Anne Frank’s childhood home is her Montessori school that she attended from age 5 through 12. The school still holds students captive with standard teachings and life lessons, therefore it is not open to the public either. However, the side of the school is painted with quotes from Anne Frank’s famous diary. While you visit Rivierenbuurt, another stop you can choose to make is that of a bookstore, where the clerks tell a story of how Anne Frank’s father bought the 13-year-old a birthday present — an autograph book — which she used as her diary while hiding from Nazi German soldiers during World War II.
So thank The Fault in Our Stars for bringing the inspiring, courageous story of Anne Frank back to the forefront of our children. Stories like this provide life lessons that they may not otherwise receive.
