Anne Frank Huis

This weekend I was in Amsterdam and I had the opportunity to visit the Anne Frank house.  It was definitely an unnerving feeling to see the home where 8 Jewish people hid from the government (and daylight) for years.  Inside the house was even more of an uncomfortable (for lack of better wording) feeling.  All the windows were blackened to imitate how the Franks and their family friends had to live.  I couldn't imagine being locked in such a small area, though the annex was a lot larger than I initially thought, with a small amount of people for such a long time. 

The amazing thing about Anne Frank is, though, no matter how tough and unbearable her living situation was, she was able to see the positive side of things.  She wrote affectionately in her journal for all the people in her annex, and also wrote of her dreams, hopes, and wishes.  To have that positive of an attitude given her circumstances is absolutely amazing to me.  The area in which they stayed was small, dark, and cramped.  The kitchen also served as a living room and dining room, and there was only one bathroom for all 8 people.

Visiting the house was a dream I have had since the first time I read Anne Frank's diary when I was 14 years old.  To actually walk the stairs she walked, duck behind the bookcase into the hidden annex, and see the attic in which she escaped to see blue skies was a dream come true and absolutely disheartening all at once.  It takes your breath away, and I don't think I was prepared.  I wasn't prepared to feel overcome with dread, trying to imagine what life here must have been like.  I wasn't prepared to start to be scared while in hiding, trying to imagine what it would be like to be arrested and killed merely for your genetic background.  There are pages of the actual diary on display, pages from her original diary and the many, many notebooks that served as diaries after she had filled the first.

There was also a display on her sister Margot, and all her dreams and accomplishments.  I had never heard much about Margot, so this was all new to me.  She was smart, driven, and motivated.  Though she was different than Anne in many of her views on things, the two got along very well.  She was an inspiration to Anne, and deserves as much credit for that as she can possibly be given.

Everyone knows that what happened in the Holocaust is an unspeakable tragedy, but being this in-depth made me view everything ten times more in depth.  Anne Frank is a legend and a hero of many young girls for a reason, she is an inspiration to the entire world.