The Anne Frank House in Amsterdam

While I was in Amsterdam a couple of weeks ago, I had an opportunity to visit the Anne Frank House and Museum, something I didn’t have a chance to do when I was there last year. I made the mistake of not reserving a ticket in advance, which meant I had to wait in a very long line. It took about 1.5 hours of queuing until I finally got in, (I was in line behind some Brits, and believe me, I heard a lot about the queue… 😀) but it was definitely worth it.

I re-read the Diary of a Young Girl just prior to my trip and seeing her house made such a difference in being able to visualize the cramped quarters that 8 people lived in for 2 years.

Photography was not allowed inside the house but I picked up a few postcards in the gift shop that show Anne’s house as it was when she lived there, as it is today, and a couple that more clearly show the secret annex. The cutaway view postcard I found really helpful in envisioning the house, office areas, and warehouse Anne wrote about:

Once of my co-workers asked me if the wait time was worth it and I answered unequivocally yes.

I told them that seeing places like this are good reminders of the difference that a few brave people can make acting in kindness and also the difference that people can make acting out of fear and hate.

One of these groups of people preserved the lives of 8 others for 2 years at risk of their own lives while the other group extinguished 7 of those lives after weeks or months of subjecting them to horrific conditions.

We should never forget that.

Below are a few pictures I took outside the house.

Ticket to Anne Frank House

This is the view Anne would have had from her house if she had been able to look out the window on Prinsengracht

This is only part of the very long queue to get into the Anne Frank House

Westerkerk