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Courage... strength... inspiration...
heartbreak...
These are the words that come straight into my mind now when I think
about Anne Frank and her diary.
Seeing where Ann Frank once
lived
I first read the diary when I was in primary school, and again when
I was in high school. Ten years later, I knew what it was about, but
I could not remember the emotions I felt after reading it then.
Perhaps I was too young to experience any emotions.
Before I left Australia for my holiday in Europe, I decided to read
Anne Frank's diary once again. I knew I would be visiting the house
in Amsterdam, and I wanted that experience to really mean something.
I spent my mornings and afternoons on the train to and from work,
reading about the life, and death, of Anne Frank. I was once again
captivated by her innocence, the terror she experienced, the trauma
to her family and her life underground.
I put myself into her place and lived the moments in my mind,
imagining what I would do in certain situations. I also allowed
myself to feel emotions towards Anne and her family. I got angry at
her mother, I admired her father and I loved Peter Van Pels as she
did. I wanted the moment that I stepped into her house in Amsterdam
to be truly unique. It was.
Standing outside, I looked around the street Anne and her sister
Margot would have stared at from behind closed curtains. I saw the
road where Anne had described seeing soldiers patrolling and
terrified Jews fleeing, trying to escape the war. Where she would
have seen friends and neighbours being taken away by the army,
marching towards certain death. Now the roads are littered with
people dressed in clothes Anne would have dreamed of owning, faces
as beautiful as the pictures she cut from magazines and posted on
her walls, laughter and smiles as friends share stories and tourists
scour the streets in search of history.
As Anne looked onto these
streets during the heartache of World War Two, she could never have
imagined the happiness that the people are blessed with today. The
streets are filled with traffic - cars, buses, bikes - taking the
people to yet more destinations of enjoyment. On the rare occasions
Anne was able to sneak a look outside, the only cars she would have
seen were military, buses filled with Jews on their way to
concentration camps across Europe, and those on bikes finding
themselves there after a failed attempt to escape.
A desperate
confinement
But the feeling looking at the streets outside
the house was nothing compared to being inside - as I am sure was
the case for Anne and her companions.
The house is built in two sections and has 4 storeys (plus attic).
The back section of the two top floors became the secret annex,
where Anne and her family — the Franks, together with the Van Pels
and Fritz Pfeffer spent 25 months of their lives.
They lived there until the day of their arrest, when the annex was
emptied of its furnishings by order of the German occupation forces.
An anonymous telephone call to the authorities led to the search.
While it will never be known for certain who reported them, two
theories surfaced. One alleged betrayer was Anton Ahlers, a Nazi and
business associate of Otto Frank. The second theory pointed to a
Dutch cleaner named Lena Hartog-van Bladeren, who worked in the
office in front of the annex. But the true identity of the betrayer
will never be known. Those hidden were all deported and sent to
extermination camps, where all but one died.
Otto Frank, Anne's father, was the only survivor amongst them (Anne
died from typhus and deprivation in March 1945 in Bergen-Belsen. She
was just 15 years old). He was found by the Russian Army at
Auschwitz and upon recovery, learnt of the death of his wife and
children. After the war, Anne's diary was found strewn across the
office floor, where it was picked up and hidden away. It resurfaced
many years later and was then given to her father.
The annex itself has remained in its original state.
I felt speechless as I walked the same corridors and staircases that
Anne and her family had walked. I had tears in my eyes as I stepped
through the worn bookcase which served as a secret door to the
annex. And my heart pounded as I made my way into the make-shift
bedrooms. Although empty now, I was able to picture what they must
have looked like, and I couldn't comprehend how each person survived
for 25 months in such extreme conditions. I guess it was still
luxurious though, compared to life in concentration camps.
The last days
of a young girl — brought to life again by her diary
Even now as I think of it, I shudder at the image
of the small room that Anne shared with Fritz Pfeffer - the pictures
she had pasted to the wall to cheer her up, still there, faded and
torn. A reflection on a young life - long lost.
Had I walked into the secret annex where Anne Frank and her family
lived without reading the book beforehand, I don't think I would
have truly understood what it meant to be there.
I would never have felt despair walking into the rooms that served
as the kitchen, bathroom and bedrooms; I wouldn't have cared that
there was barely enough space to fit a desk, let alone two or three
beds; and my heart would not have pounded as I recalled Anne’s fear
as she wrote about the view from the window or listened to the news
on the radio.
As I walked through the annex, I thought about how hard it must have
been for Otto Frank to pack up his family and hide them from the
world for more than two years. To stop his daughters from going out
to play - from even looking out the window to feel the sunlight on
their faces. I can't imagine how painful it must have been for him
to watch as the shine slowly faded from the eyes of those he loved
the most, knowing he was unable to help them.
I thought about Peter and Margot, and wondered what might have
happened to them had they survived the war. But mostly, I thought
about Anne and how she experienced hell, first hand, yet through her
diary - and sadly, her death - she has made so many people smile.
She was a young girl who dreamt of becoming a journalist, but she
lived and died in an unfortunate time. Her writing has since
inspired hundreds and her words have touched even the hardest of
hearts.
Through her adversity, the world has learnt that life is not
perfect. We have also learnt that although at times life may seem
tough, we should appreciate what we have, because there will always
be unfortunate people who live their lives in a secret annex.
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