Search results for: "Anne Frank"

Anne Frank Statue stands at Founders Plaza of the National World War II Museum since September 12th, 2019. Frank (1929-1945) was a teenage girl to a German-Jewish family in Amsterdam, Netherlands when the second World War began. On her 13th birthday, she got a notebook with a lock and decided to use it as a diary. In it, she described her life, wrote her feelings and thoughts. When the Nazis invaded the Netherlands and the restrictions for Jews increased, the family created the impression they left in a hurry to Switzerland and went into hiding in a secret annex above the warehouse of the company her father worked. Their only connection to the outside world was several loyal employees of her father, who took care of them. In August 1944, the German police discovered them, sending them all to Auschwitz. Anne and her sister Martha were sent to a concentration camp where they both found their deaths only a few weeks before the war ended. Her father, Otto, was the only survivor. When he came back to Amsterdam, a friend gave him a stack of papers she saved. Among them was Anne’s diary. In 1947, The Diary of a Young Girl was published and became one of the most famous testimonies of life under the Nazi regime. The statue depicts 13-year-old Frank standing, holding her diary to her chest with both hands. Behind her is a granite bench with a quote from the diary – “Sometime this terrible war will be over. Surely the time will come when we are people again, and not just Jews.” The New York sculpture firm, StudioEIS, created the statue from Anne’s pictures and a live model and actress who had appeared on the New York stage as Anne Frank. Among the many sculptures they created in the US are the Harriet Tubman statue at the Maryland Statehouse and the Virginia Women’s Monument. Read more...

The Idaho Anne Frank Human Rights Memorial is an 81-acre educational park “designed to actively engage visitors to think, to talk with one another, and to respond to the human rights issues we face in our community, our country, and our world.” Anne Frank (1929-1945) was born in Frankfurt, Germany. Following Adolf Hitler’s rise to power in 1933, Anne and her family relocated to Amsterdam, the Netherlands. When she was 11, the Nazis invaded the Netherlands, enforcing antisemitic laws on the local Jews. She tried to live her life as if everything was regular, detailing everything in a diary she received for her 13th birthday. A year later, the conditions for Jews got even worse. When her sister Margot got a summon to a work camp, the family escaped their home and went underground in a secret annex at her father’s company building; their only connection to the outside world was through several loyal employees of her father. In August 1944, the German secret police discovered the annex and sent all its residents to Auschwitz. Later, Anne and Margot were transported to the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp, where Anne, at 15, and Margot, at 18, died of typhus. When the war ended, Anne’s father, Otto, the only survivor of the family, returned to Amsterdam. He discovered that his former secretaries had found and kept Anne’s diary. Following Anne’s dream to become a writer and aspiring to show the world how the war affected children, he published Anne’s diary. The book, titled The Diary of a Young Girl, became a worldwide bestseller and has since been translated into over 70 languages, becoming one of the most famous written testimonials of a Holocaust victim. The idea for the memorial was initiated in 1995 when a traveling exhibit about Anne Frank arrived in Boise and drew thousands of visitors. In the following years, a group of human rights and community activists, alongside the Wassmuth Center for Human Rights, raised funds to establish the memorial. They chose Idaho Falls architect Kurt Karst to design it and dedicated it on August 16, 2002. Thousands of visitors visit the memorial each year from all over the country. It comprises several elements; its centerpiece is an amphitheater from which the visitor can view the sculpture of the secret annex where Anne and her family hide. A life-sized bronze statue of Anne, created by Greg Stone, stands inside the annex, depicting her standing on a chair, peeking out of the window of her hiding place while holding her famous diary in her hand. At the back of the annex, there is a stone bookcase that simulates the movable bookcase that disguised the entrance to the secret annex. On the bookcase, there are quotes taken from Anne’s diary. Behind the annex is the Marilyn Shuler classroom for human rights, named after the renowned human rights leader and advocate who co-founded the memorial and served as a board member of the Wassmuth Center for Human Rights. In the open classroom, there is a showcase of the history of human rights in Idaho. Next to the classroom stands the Spiral of Injustice sculpture. Created by Ken McCall, it represents the harm and injustice that can spark from a single word. A few steps away, there’s the Butterfly Garden, watching over the Boise River. In the garden, there is a stone plaque inscribed with the poem “The Butterfly,” written by Pavel Friedmann during his imprisonment at the Terezin concentration camp before he was murdered in Auschwitz. In front of the annex, there is the Rose Beal legacy garden. It contains a stone installation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, a sapling of an Anne Frank Chestnut Tree from Amsterdam, and the Bethine and Frank Church Writing Table; the table honors Senator Frank Church, who was a prominent figure in the passage of the first Civil Rights Bill, and his wife Bethine, who was a human rights activist. On the table, there is a bronze representation of Anne’s diary. On the west side of the memorial is a 180-foot Quote Wall. It contains a series of sandstone with quotations of people from various times and regions. Some of them are of famous people, such as Eleanor Roosevelt and Nelson Mandela, while others are of unknown people, including children, formerly enslaved people, and Holocaust survivors. Although this memorial is about love and acceptance, it was vandalized twice in 2017 and 2020. Several places worth a visit are a short distance from the memorial, such as the Wassmuth Center for Human Rights, Boise Art Museum, the Idaho Black History Museum, and the Oregon Trail Memorial Bridge. Read more...

The Anne Frank Memorial Garden at Arboretum Park commemorates Anne Frank, a Jewish Holocaust victim and the victims of the Holocaust. Anne Frank (1929-1945) was only four when she and her Jewish family moved from their hometown of Frankfurt, Germany, to Amsterdam in the Netherlands following Adolf Hitler’s rise to power in 1933. Seven years later, the Germans invaded the Netherlands and applied antisemitic laws on Jewish citizens. The following year, after various attempts to escape, the Frank family had no choice but to go into hiding in the company building of her father. Anne, her sister Margot, and her parents crammed together with four more people at a 450 square feet annex. During this time, Anne documented her daily life in a diary she got for her 13th birthday. On August 4th, 1944, the secret German police found them. All of the annex’s residents were sent to Auschwitz, the last place Anne saw her parents. Later, she and her sister were transported to the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp, where both died of typhus only a few weeks before the war ended. Anne was 15 and Margot 18. When the war ended, her father, the only survivor of the family, got her diary from his former secretaries, who found it after the police raid on the annex. He published it in 1947 with the title The Diary of a Young Girl. The book and Anne became worldwide famous. The idea for an Anne Frank memorial was initiated in 2004 by Councilwoman Marlene Budd. It took four years before Steven Dubner Landscaping was chosen to bring it to life. Drawings made by elementary school students are integrated into their designs. The garden, dedicated on June 13th, 2010, incorporates symbolic elements from Anne Frank’s life, including a cement infused with glass that memorializes Kristallnacht. The night in November 1938, synagogues and Jewish-owned stores throughout Germany and Austria were vandalized following the Third Reich regime order. A circular pathway surrounds the garden and leads to a statue created by Thea Lanzisero. The sculpture is in the shape of a little girl’s dress, made of white laced steel, representing vulnerability and fearlessness and inspired by designs from Anne Frank’s time. While the steel is stiff and protective, the lace pattern is soft and sensitive, much like Anne Frank herself. Click here to read about more statues honoring Anne Frank in the world. Read more...

At the garden of the Holocaust Education Center in Fukuyama stands a statue of Anne Frank. The Holocaust Education Center was founded in 1995 by reverend Makoto Otsuka to commemorate the 1.5 million children who died in the Holocaust. Anne Frank (1929-1945) was born to a Jewish family in Frankfurt, Germany. She was a spirited and outgoing child who loved playing games and reading books. When she was four years old, the family moved to Amsterdam, the Netherlands, to escape the increasing antisemitism led by Hitler and the Nazi party. There, Anne had a normal childhood and developed a passion for writing, aspiring to become an author. That ended in 1942 when Germany invaded the Netherlands and enforced their rules on Jewish citizens. The Frank family tried to escape the country but eventually had to go into hiding to prevent Margot, Anne’s big sister, from being sent to a working camp. They moved to a secret annex in her father’s company building, where they lived together with four more people, and their only connection to the outside world was through a handful of employees of Anne’s father. Anne detailed her life in a diary, expressing her thoughts, fears, hopes, and perceptions of the world and the people inside and outside the annex. After two years in hiding, the secret German police discovered the annex, and all its residents were sent to Auschwitz. Later, Anne and Margot were sent to the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp, where they died of typhus, Anne at 15 and Margot at 18. After the war, Anne’s father returned to Amsterdam, realizing he was the only one in the family to survive. His former secretary gave him Anne’s diary, which she kept for Anne’s return. He decided to publish it, showing the world the impact of the war on children like Anne. The diary, published as a book titled The Diary of a Young Girl, became a worldwide best-seller, was translated into over 70 languages, and adapted into many theater productions, TV shows, and movies. Anne’s dream to become a famous writer has come true, and she is considered one of the most known holocaust victims in the world. In 1971, while on a trip to Israel with a choral group, Rev. Otsuka met Otto Frank, Anne’s father. Inspired by Frank’s and his daughter’s story, the two began a decade-long correspondence in which Frank asked him to raise awareness in Japan of the Holocaust and to promote world peace. To fulfill Frank’s wish, Rev. Otsuka established the museum with donations from the public and the Christian pro-Israel organization Beit Shalom. The museum follows the buildup of hate and antisemitism in Germany and holds a collection of artifacts donated by European Jews from that era. There is also a reproduction of a Jewish ghetto with the original bricks of a ghetto wall. The main exhibit is a replica of Anne’s room in the secret annex, where are on display over 100 items that belonged to Anne and her family, including Otto’s typewriter. Anne’s rose garden has a sapling of the horse chestnut tree that stood outside the annex and a life-size bronze statue of Anne. While at Fukuyama City, do not miss a visit to the Fukuyama Art Museum, the Fukuyamashi Jinkenheiwa (Fukuyama City Human Rights and Peace Museum), and the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum. Read more...

A statue of Anne Frank (Monumento a Ana Frank) stands in the Kingdom of Netherlands Square in memory of the Holocaust and the glorification of life and hope. Anne Frank (1929-1945) was a 4-year-old Jewish girl when Hitler rose to power, and she moved to the Netherlands with her family. She was a creative and energetic child that aspired to become a famous writer. When Germany invaded the Netherlands and imposed antisemitic laws on the local Jews, Amsterdam was not safe for them anymore. In July 1942, the family hid in a secret annex at the building of her father’s company alongside four more people. In the diary she received for her 13th birthday, Anne detailed her life in the annex, expressing her hopes, dreams, fears, and struggles. On August 4th, 1944, after two years of hiding, the annex was discovered by the German secret police, and Anne, together with her family, was sent to Auschwitz. After a few months, she and her sister died of typhus in the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp. The only family member to survive was Anne’s father, Otto. On his return to Amsterdam, he received his daughter’s diary, kept by one of his loyal workers who helped them when living in the annex. To fulfill his daughter’s dream of becoming a famous writer and to show the world how the war has impacted the lives of children, Otto published Anne’s diary under the title The Diary of a Young Girl. It became a best-seller, was translated into over 70 languages, and adapted into dozens of films, TV shows, and theater productions, making Anne one of the most known holocaust victims in the world. The Dutch Embassy in Argentina and the Argentinian Ministry of Education donated the Anne Frank statue to Buenos Aires. It was dedicated on December 9th, 2014, the 66th International Human Rights Day, by representatives of the Buenos Aires City Government, the Dutch Embassy in Buenos Aires, the Anne Frank House and Museum of Buenos Aires, and many local Dutch and Jewish community members (the largest community in South America). The bronze statue is a replica of the Anne Frank statue at the Merwedeplein square in Amsterdam, sculpted by Dutch artist Jet Schepp in 2005. Anne is depicted wearing her traveling clothes and carrying the two small bags she took with her when entering the annex. In March 2022, the statue was stolen, probably for its metals and not antisemitism. It was found and restored three days later. Also in Buenos Aires is the Anne Frank House and Museum, Centro Ana Frank Argentina. Several places worth a visit are a short distance from the statue, such as the Monumento a Juana Azurduy, the Mayo Palazzo, the Palacio de Bellas Artes (Palace of Fine Arts), and the Buenos Aires Museo (BAM). Read more...

A statue of Anne Frank stands in Merwedeplein, where she lived with her family from 1933 until they went into hiding in 1942. The statue serves as a memorial for Anne and her family and the thirteen thousand Jewish people who lived in the area and did not survive the war. Anne Frank (1929-1945) was born to a Jewish family in Frankfurt, Germany. In 1933, after Hitler came to power and enforced antisemitic laws on Jewish citizens, the Frank family moved to Amsterdam, the Netherlands, and settled at 37 Merwedeplein street in the Rivierenbuurt neighborhood of Amsterdam. Anne had an ordinary childhood there; she loved riding the bike and reading books and planned her career as a famous writer. Her life changed in 1940 when Germany invaded the Netherlands and gradually limited the freedom of the local Jews. The family had plans to escape from the country, but when Margot, Anne’s older sister, was summoned to a work camp, the family went underground to a secret annex – a three-story 450 square feet space above Anne’s father’s office building. Within a few months, four more people moved in, and beside them, their only connection to the outside world was through a few workers of Anne’s father, including his secretary, Miep Gies. Anne documented her life in the annex in a diary she had received for her 13th birthday. She wrote about the mundane activities, her relationships with her mother and sister, her feelings for Peter Van Pels, who lived in the annex with his parents, existential thoughts, and her hopes and fears of the unknown future. After two years in hiding, the German secret police raided the annex and deported all its eight residents to Auschwitz. Then Anne and Magot were transported to the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp, where both contracted typhus, dying only a few weeks before the war ended. When Otto Frank, Anne’s father, returned to Amsterdam, he realized that he was the only family member to survive. His secretary, Miep, gave him Anne’s diary, which she found in the annex and kept for her return. To shed light on the impact of the war on children like Anne, he decided to fulfill his daughter’s dream to publish her diary and issued it as a book titled The Diary of a Young Girl. The book was translated into over 70 languages, sold over 25 million copies worldwide, and inspired dozens of TV shows, films, and theater productions. The artist Jet Schepp created the statue in 1994; it was first placed in Purmerend in North Holland. In 2004, a local bookstore in Merwedeplein started a petition to install a version of the statue on Anne’s street. On July 9th, 2005, it was unveiled in Merwedeplein. The bronze statue depicts Anne on the early morning of July 6th, 1942, the day she and her family went into hiding. She carries two small bags, the only belonging she could have taken with her when leaving her home in secret. She is looking backward, taking one last look at her home and the life she knew. The statue stands on a marble plinth inscribed with Anne’s name, year of birth, and year of death. The Dutch Embassy in Argentina and the Argentinian Ministry of Education gifted a replica of this statue and installed it in Buenos Aires. More places about women to visit in Amsterdam include the Anne Frank House, the Madame Tussauds wax museum, the Equestrian statue of Queen Wilhelmina, and Belle – the Sex Worker Commemorative Statue. Read more...

The Anne Frank House is a biographical museum commemorating the teenage holocaust victim and her family. Anne Frank (1929-1945) was born in Frankfurt, Germany, to Otto and Edith Frank. In 1933, following Hitler’s rise to power, the family moved to Amsterdam, the Netherlands. There, her father established a fruit extract company located at a 17th-century building on Prinsengracht 263. She had a normal childhood; she went to school, loved to read, and enjoyed riding her bike. That changed in May 1940, when Nazi Germany invaded the Netherlands and enforced antisemitic rules that limited the freedom of the Jewish citizens and threatened their lives. The Frank family tried to escape the country but were eventually trapped under the Nazi regime and decided to go into hiding. On July 6th, 1942, the family moved to a secret annex at Otto’s office. It was a 450 square feet space at the rear extension of the building, hidden from all sides. Within a few months, four more people came to live in the annex – a dentist named Fritz Pfeffer and the Van Pels family – Hermann, Auguste, and their son Peter. For the next two years, Anne described her life in the diary she received for her 13th birthday, only a month before moving into the annex. In it, she expressed her thoughts and feelings about the war and the day after; she detailed her daily routines, her conflicts with her mother and sister Margot, her opinions of the other annex’s residences, and her feelings toward Peter Van Pels. When she heard on the radio that the government would collect and publish diaries written during the war, Anne, who aspired to become a famous writer, decided to edit her diary into a running story – The Secret Annex. On August 4th, 1944, the secret German police raided the annex and deported all its inhabitants to Auschwitz. Later on, Anne and Margot were sent to the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp, where both died of typhus, Anne at 15 and Margot at 18. After their evacuation, Miep Gies and Bep Voskuijl, two of Otto’s employees who helped hide the families, managed to rescue some of the residences’ belongings; Anne’s diary was among them. Otto, the only surviving family member, returned to Amsterdam after the war and received the diary. He decided to fulfill his daughter’s wish, and in 1947 it was published in Dutch. The book was titled Het Achterhuis. Dagbrieven van 14 juni 1942 tot 1 augustus 1944 (The Secret Annex. Diary Letters from 14 June 1942 to 1 August 1944) as Anne wanted. It became a bestseller, drawing people to visit the building and view the hiding place. It was later retitled the Diary of Anne Frank and translated into more than 70 languages. In 1955, demolition was planned for the building. Following a successful campaign by a Dutch newspaper, it was saved. Two years later, Otto established the Anne Frank Foundation to purchase the building and turn it into a museum. Eventually, the building was donated to the foundation, and the funds were used to buy the house next door. In 1960, the museum was opened to the public. Today, the Anne Frank House incorporates the entire building and includes several exhibition spaces. Once you go up the narrow stairs and through the hinged bookcase that hides the annex’s entrance, the world from the book comes to life. On display are Anne’s original diary, the pictures of movie stars she hanged on her bedroom wall, a map of Normandy that allowed the annex’s residences to follow the advance of the allies, height marks of Anne and Margot, Otto and Edith’s wedding photos, a notebook with short stories Anne wrote, and her Favorite Quotes Book, where she copied quotes she liked. Also on view is the Academy Award Shelley Winters won for her portrayal of Petronella van Daan (the characterization of Auguste van Pels) in The Diary of Anne Frank movie. Also recommended is a visit to the multimedia room, where you can take a virtual tour through Anne’s house and hear stories of other people who went into hiding during the war. Outside the museum, at Westermarkt 74, there is a bronze statue of Anne sculpted by Mari Andriessen in 1977. The marker beside it reads a quotation from Anne’s diary: “I know what I want, I have a goal, an opinion, I have a religion and love. Let me be myself, and then I am satisfied.” Other places in Amsterdam commemorating Anne Frank are a sculpture in Merwedeplein, where the Frank family lived before leaving for the annex, and the Anne Frank mural at Ms. van Riemsdijkweg 31. Read more...

Behind the Janskerkhof Bloemenmarkt flower market stands a bronze statue of Anne Frank, commemorating the Holocaust victims, the victims of discrimination and persecution in Utrecht, and more than 1,200 Jews from Utrecht who were murdered. On Liberation Day, May 5th, 1959, the year Anne would have celebrated her 30th birthday, the youth of Utrecht gave this statue to the city as an appreciation gift for the various youth associations the Utrecht has organized. They collected scrap iron and paper to finance it, and the Utrecht sculptor Pieter d’Hont created it, depicting Frank standing, looking forward, and strong. It is the first statue of Anne Frank in the world, unveiled in 1960. Traditionally, flowers are placed at the statue all year round, and every year, during the commemoration of the dead, there is a gathering next to it. Anne Frank (1929-1945) was a German-Jewish teenage girl when World War II embarked. When the Nazis invaded the Netherlands and enforced antisemitic rules that demonized, isolated, and threatened their lives, on July 6th, 1942, the family hid in a secret annex in her father’s office building in Amsterdam. During her time in hiding, Anne wrote in the diary she received for her 13th birthday, expressing her thoughts and feelings about the war and the day after. On August 4th, 1944, the secret German police discovered them, deporting all the annex residents to a concentration camp, where Anne, her sister, and her mother died. After the war ended, Anne’s father returned to Amsterdam, discovering he was the only survivor. He found Anne’s diary and published it, fulfilling Anne’s dream of becoming a writer and sharing her testimony about her childhood during World War II. Over the years, The Diary of Anne Frank was translated into more than 70 languages and sold over 30 million copies worldwide, making Anne one of, if not the most known, Holocaust victims. The Dutch Canadian Club Edmonton unveiled a copy of this statue in Edmonton, Canada, in August 2021. Click here to see more statues of Anne Frank around the world. Read more...

On August 8th, 2021, the Dutch Canadian Club Edmonton dedicated the statue of Anne Frank. It is a replica of the 1960 sculpture by Dutch sculptor Pieter d’Hont which was the first statue of Anne Frank ever created. The unveiling ceremony was attended by Dutch representatives, veterans, public officials, and Jewish community members. It was live-streamed to the Netherlands, where a bell tolled for 2 minutes at the same time as Edmonton. Tulips and other flowers from the Netherlands surround the sculpture, and next to it are two informative plaques. The statue pays tribute to the Holocaust victims and Canada’s role in liberating the Netherlands from Nazi tyranny in 1945. Edmonton’s Light Horse Park is named after the South Alberta Light Horse Regiment, which fought during World War I and II. The park went through a makeover in 2011, intending to create a place for those who have been affected by war or conflict. Anne Frank (1929-1945) was a teenage girl when her family went into hiding following the Nazis’ invasion of the Netherlands. During that time, she documented her life in a notebook she got on her 13th birthday. In August 1944, the German police discovered them, sending them all to Auschwitz. Anne and her sister Martha died in a concentration camp only a few weeks before the war ended. Her father, Otto, was the only family member to survive. After the war, he returned to Amsterdam and received many papers a friend was able to save for him. Among them was Anne’s diary. In 1947, The Diary of a Young Girl was published and became one of the most famous depositions of life under the Nazi regime. Click here to see all the statues of Anne Frank in the world. Read more...

On February 10th, 2020, in the capitol’s Old House Chamber, the same room the Maryland emancipation took place in November 1864, the statues of Harriet Tubman and Frederick Douglass were dedicated. The sculptures depict them as they would have looked in 1864 when witnessing the ratification of a new constitution that abolished slavery in Maryland. The room was restored to the 19th-century era, showcasing exhibitions of Maryland during and after the civil war. Ivan Schwartz, from StudioEIS, created the statues; it is the same studio that created Anne Frank’s sculpture in New Orleans. Tubman and Douglass were born enslaved on the Eastern Shore of Maryland, escaped to freedom, and became national leaders working to abolish slavery and advocating equal rights and women’s suffrage. There are many differences between the leaders; while Douglass was a well-known author, orator, and public figure, Tubman worked behind the scenes, assisting many individuals to their freedom privately. Tubman’s statue is one of the first statues of black women that stands inside a state Capitol building. In November 2022, Nellie Stone Johnson’s statue was dedicated to the Minnesota Capitol. Read more...