By Katie Vasquez
As World War II raged across Europe a young Jewish girl named Anne Frank hid with her family in the annex of her father’s company in Amsterdam, all the while writing a diary that would be translated into 75 languages.
The home in the Netherlands receives a million visitors a year with the executive director estimating that 25% of visitors come from the United States.
“Tickets sell out very quickly,” Ronald Leopold, executive director of the Anne Frank House, tells Currents News. “So we have been thinking for a longer period of time what we could offer to those audiences who are not able to visit the house itself.”
A complete replica of the space is now available at the Center for Jewish History for the public to view, including the desk where she wrote her diary.
The exhibit also shares never before seen artifacts like poetry written by Anne, as well as family photos to offer context of what shaped the young girl’s life.
“I think they really do make it physically tangible that this girl who we – of course – know from the diary, did have a real physical existence,” Gavriel Rosenfeld, president of the Center for Jewish History.
The exhibition comes at a time when anti-semitism is at an all time high. Organizers say it emphasizes the need to share Anne Frank’s experience.
“We’re very convinced that having a fuller understanding of the complexities of history gives us an opportunity to talk and foster conversation with people who might not always see eye to eye on things,” Rosenfeld tells Currents News.
The center has invited 350 schools, some from as far away as California, to educate young people with a curriculum developed by the Anne Frank Center at the University of South Carolina.
“Young people’s voices matter. Young people may not always realize that, but it was a 13, 14 year old girl who has inspired this exhibit,” says Doyle Stevick, executive director of the Anne Frank Center at USC.
While Anne and her family are the focus of this exhibit, organizers don’t want people to forget all the others.
“She was just one of 1.5 million Jewish children who were murdered during the Holocaust,” says Leopold, “and many of whom we don’t know anything about them.”
Anne Frank: The Exhibition will run through April 30, 2025.