Prinsengracht 263 – Part 1 Entering the secret annexe

I visited Anne Frank’s House in Amsterdam a couple of years ago. It was a powerful experience and afterwards I was moved to write about it. This year, my account of my visit and Anne Frank’s story was included as part of a display for Holocaust Day, 27^th January, when we remember those killed and the families affected by the Holocaust during World War 2. There was an exhibition in the Civic Centre (Council offices) in Southend on the day, and a smaller one in the main library during the last two weeks of January.

I would like to share the story with you over the next four weeks…

 

There was already a long queue outside Anne Frank’s House half-an-hour before it opened. Behind me was a young girl who spoke English with an American accent, but who claimed to be half Dutch, a quarter English and a quarter something else. She lived in Amsterdam and was with a man who I took to be her father, but maybe wasn’t because they talked about her dad. She was complaining that she had been there three times already and had only come because of him. “I don’t understand why everyone comes to see an empty room in a small hole. It’s boring.”

A man came from the museum and looked at my little mobility scooter. “Yes I know I can’t take it in,” I said. “But that’s ok; it can stay outside.” “We can put it somewhere safe, but can you manage stairs?” he asked. “Oh yes.” He looked doubtful. “There are a lot of them.” “I know.” He didn’t seem reassured but I was not going to be put off.

The first three floors, with steep and narrow stairs between them, were what had been the factory and its offices. The secret annexe was above them and at the back. By the time we arrived at the small room with the now famous bookcase, I was already worn out. Climbing through the hole hiding behind it took a huge amount of effort. It was half the size of a doorway, with a large step up and a low roof beam. As I hauled myself through, a shiver ran down my spine.

I was met with almost vertical steps, like a ladder, to the floor above the factory. As I pulled myself up them, I wondered how I was going to get down again, but I kept going. There was a one way system though the museum and once you start the journey, you can’t leave until the end. As I stepped into the annexe, secrecy closed in.