Anne Frank Huis

The Franks, prominent German Jews who relocated to Amsterdam in 1933, spent almost two years, beginning in 1942, hiding in the attic rooms of this nondescript canal house to escape Nazi persecution. Anne’s diary, found after they were betrayed and deported to a German death camp, has been published in sixty languages and remains one of the most powerful personal testaments to the madness of the era.

The rooms of the attic, reached via a secret passageway behind a bookcase, are bare, save for some stickers and postcards decorating the walls, yet visiting them is a chilling and deeply moving experience, especially if you have read the journal. Eight people spent years here, in constant fear of being found: in her diary, Anne wrote, “Not being able to go outside upsets me more than I can say, and I’m terrified our hiding place will be discovered and that we’ll be shot.” The close quarters also led to daily quarrels, vividly captured by the young writer.

Anne Frank died in Bergen-Belsen a few weeks before it was liberated, in 1945. After the war, her father, Otto, the family’s sole survivor, was given her diary by his former employee Miep Gies, one of the courageous helpers who hid the family. Otto Frank later said: “When I returned and after I had the news that my children would not be coming back, Miep gave me the diary, which had been saved by, I should say, a miracle. It took me a very long time before I could read it. And I must say, I was very much surprised about the deep thoughts that Anne had, her seriousness, especially her self-criticism. It was quite a different Anne than I had known as my daughter. She never really showed this kind of inner feeling. She talked about many things, criticized many things, but what her real feelings were, that I could only see from the diary.”

The Anne Frank Huis is one of the most-visited attractions in Amsterdam, so get there early in the morning or right before it closes. Timed tickets that allow you to pass the line can also be purchased on the excellent Web site. The diary is worth rereading before you go, especially if you plan to take children. The original, a slender booklet with a plaid cover and filled with a child’s tiny neat handwriting, is on view in one of the rooms.