The Anne Frank House - A window into the Holocaust, Amsterdam

The Anne Frank House - A window into the Holocaust

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Anne Frank decided to document her experiences and thoughts in a diary that we now know as Anne Frank’s Diary. She had named their hiding place the Secret Annex. Sadly, after two years of hiding, these eight residents were caught … Read more

The Anne Frank House - A window into the Holocaust

Back in 1942, when Annelies Marie Frank, now popularly known as Anne Frank, was hiding from the Nazis, little did she know that her hiding place would one day become one of the most famous historical sites in Amsterdam. The house is a sad reminder of the Nazi atrocities, but an important piece of history nonetheless.

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Today, we are no strangers to dark tourism. Anne Frank’s home is one such dark tourism site that people from all over the world come to visit. Anne Frank's former residence, known as the Anne Frank House, is a well-known historical site in Amsterdam, Netherlands.

In 1933, Otto Frank (Anne’s father) moved from Germany to Amsterdam in the Netherlands, where he established a small business. In May 1940, when the Germans invaded the Netherlands, things became quite dangerous for the Jewish people. Thousands of Jews were killed in the Netherlands alone.

By the time it was 1942-44, several extermination camps came up in Europe where millions of Jews were killed. As per records, around six million European Jews were killed in these camps, and around five million of them were taken in as prisoners of war.

When things became too difficult for the Jewish people in the Netherlands, Anne Frank and her family, along with Otto Frank’s business associate Hermann van Pels’ family and Fritz Pfeffer went into hiding in an attic apartment behind Otto Frank’s place of work at Prinsengracht 263 in Amsterdam. In total, there were eight people living in this tiny space in the attic, behind a book shelf, hidden away from all, making no sounds at all, for two whole years. During this time, Otto Frank’s employees smuggled in food and supplies, and also brought in news.

It was during this time that Anne Frank decided to document her experiences and thoughts in a diary that we now know as Anne Frank’s Diary. She had named their hiding place the Secret Annex. Sadly, after two years of hiding, these eight residents were caught and were sent to different concentration and extermination camps.

Miep Gies, Otto Frank’s employee, saved Anne Frank's diary, and is one of the most important reasons why today the whole world knows about Anne Frank.

Today, the place that housed Anne Frank and the seven others is a famous museum, where the air is sombre and visitors curious yet mindful of the painful history.

The house has been converted into a museum to preserve Anne Frank's memory and educate visitors about the horrors of the Holocaust. The Anne Frank House offers a museum experience rather than a traditional home tour. Visitors have the opportunity to explore the hidden annex where Anne and her family lived in secrecy for more than two years.

Also read: World's most famous Dark Tourism sites

The preserved rooms still contain original artefacts and belongings, creating a powerful and emotional connection to the past. The museum also includes exhibitions that provide historical context about the Holocaust, the Frank family's experience, and the broader impact of World War II.