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NEW YORK — The recreated rooms may be small and confined, but they are filled with elements that transform a mere space into a domestic setting: vibrant rugs, meticulously arranged beds, a game on the table, and photographs of the British royal family adorning the walls.
However, this is not a typical home; rather, it is a detailed reproduction of the annex where Anne Frank and her family spent over two years in hiding from the Nazis. This exhibit, currently hosted at the Center for Jewish History in New York, marks the first time such a display has been presented outside of Amsterdam.
The exhibition will remain open until the end of October.
In 1942, Anne’s older sister Margot received a harrowing notification.
“She was summoned to report to a German labor camp, with orders to show up the following day,” explained Michael Glickman, who is consulting on the New York exhibition and is the CEO of jMUSE. This distressing moment prompted the Frank family to seek refuge in hiding.
During their time there, the family had to follow strict rules to avoid detection. The windows were covered at night, they moved about in socks, and flushing the toilet required considerable discretion.
Yet, the exhibit also captures elements of normal family life, such as marks on the wall indicating children’s heights. “Just like many families do, Otto and Edith (Anne’s parents) kept track of their daughters’ growth while in hiding,” Glickman noted.
Alongside the Frank family, the van Pels family and a dentist named Fritz Pfeffer, who shared a room with Anne, were also in the annex. Sharing such close quarters as a teenager with a middle-aged man created numerous conflicts. Notably, their shared writing desk became a point of contention.
Fritz was learning Spanish with aspirations of relocating to South America after the war, while Anne was compiling the diary that has since been translated into more than 75 languages and continues to be a staple in educational settings worldwide.
The emotional resonance of Anne Frank’s diary remains powerful, as visitors to the exhibit have reflected on the relevant questions her life and untimely death raise in today’s context. “When I learned about Anne Frank in school, I wasn’t aware that they had tried to seek refuge in the U.S.,” shared Tracey Deyro from the Bronx. “If you had to escape, where would you go?”
Marc Kreidler, who accompanied Deyro, noted striking similarities between the narratives presented in the exhibit and current global occurrences. “They said, ‘Oh, the Jews were deported,’ right? There’s ongoing discourse about deporting individuals in our country to other detention centers,” he observed.
Sarah Crawford, 33, residing in New York, expressed that the exhibit provided her with a more profound and personal understanding of Holocaust history. “The appeal of Anne Frank to so many lies in how her story humanizes an otherwise overwhelming historical tragedy involving millions,” Crawford explained. “Many people can envision themselves as young children in her position.”
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