A Look Inside Her Secret Annex

Anne Frank’s diary, which provided a glimpse into the lives of a young girl escaping the horrors of war in a secret annexe, has touched the hearts of millions around the world. Visitors will now have the opportunity to witness the intimate world she lived in, the secret annexe, and the hidden rooms that have been vividly depicted in her diary for years.

“Anne Frank: The Exhibition” will open on January 27 at the Center for Jewish History in Union Square. It will feature a powerful, life-size model of the secret Amsterdam annexe where Anne Frank, her family, and four other Jews spent two years hiding during the Holocaust. It will be filled with artefacts giving fresh insights into the life of Anne Frank. 

The exhibition will let visitors enter the small, cramped areas where Anne and her family lived in hiding from 1942 to 1944 before the Nazis found them. The only member of the family to survive was her father, Otto Frank. Anne, who was just 15 when she was arrested, eventually died in Bergen-Belsen.

What to expect at the “Anne Frank: The Exhibition?”

1. Anne’s postcards:

Anne, who shared a room with dentist Fritz Pfeffer, decorated her bedroom wall with pictures of movie stars and royals, such as Princesses Elizabeth and Margaret of the British Royal Family, Greta Garbo and Ginger Rogers.

2. Peter van Pels’ bedroom

Peter van Pels and his family were among the other Jews who lived in the annexe, and he was the only one who had a room to himself.

3. Frank family China

Visitors will also get a chance to see the Frank family’s good china items that they carried in the annexe. 

4. Miep Gies’ typewriter

Miep, who served as Otto Frank’s secretary, helped the Frank family during their 25-month stay along with her husband, Jan Gies. She and her colleague, Bep Voskuijl, retrieved Anne’s valuable diary when the family was taken captive and kept it secure until Otto Frank returned from Auschwitz in June 1945.

Soon, the recreated Anne Frank House in New York will open its doors, allowing people to step into the very space where Anne’s story unfolded.