Amsterdam is a city full of places to discover and with an impressive range of museums, among which a very special one stands out: the Anne Frank house , one of the most visited places in the city by tourists who come to know the Dutch capital (in 2012 it received a whopping 1,152,888 visitors ).
The museum, which is located on the Prinsengracht, tells a tragic story . When the Germans began to persecute the Jews living in Amsterdam in 1942, the Frank and Van Pels families were forced into hiding to escape the harassment. After more than two years living in hiding in this house, they were discovered and arrested.
The secret annex
Visiting the Anne Frank house museum offers us a very graphic vision of the ordeal that those people had to suffer. The narrow and claustrophobic spaces , the fear that is still breathed in the environment today, the sadness of such an unjust persecution … All these sensations flood the visitor.
Otto Frank, Anne’s father, had a business selling pectin for food. When the time came, he hid with his family in an annex that was above the warehouse, so everyone had to be very quiet so that they would not be discovered.
Four workers from Otto’s company helped them survive during the 25 months that the confinement lasted. The entrance to the secret annex was through a mobile shelf, and behind it were the small rooms where the eight people lived: Ana’s parents, she and her sister, the Van Pels couple with their son, and Fritz Pfeffer. Ana is dedicated to writing a diary , the same one that made her world famous.
Outcome
Despite their attempts to survive, in August 1944 they were all arrested and taken to different concentration camps. They were betrayed by someone, although it is not clear who it was.
Of the eight, only Otto Frank survived. Upon his return, he discovered his daughter Ana’s diary which was published in 1947. Since then it has been translated into more than 60 languages .
http://www.annefrank.org/es/