A visit to the Anne Frank Museum located in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, expands the educator’s ability to teach students about the Holocaust.
Like many of my fellow educators, during my 36-year career I was frequently faced with the task of teaching my students about the Holocaust. To approach this sensitive topic, teachers often introduce young people to The Diary of Anne Frank, a true story about a Jewish teenager in Amsterdam who went into hiding to escape capture and deportation by the Nazis. On a recent vacation to the Netherlands, I was able to visit the place where Anne and seven others were concealed for more than two years, until their heartbreaking discovery, arrest, and deportation. A visit to this historic site is a valuable experience for the teacher who shares Anne’s story with students.
Visiting the secret annex allowed me a deeper understanding of the experiences Anne and her family shared as they attempted to escape the Nazis’ persecution: the darkness of the rooms and the closeness of the walls, the provisions for daily human needs (how do eight people use a toilet all day without the ability to flush it until after nightfall?), and the ever-present fear of discovery.
As I passed through the hinged bookcase that camouflages the entrance to the hiding place and stepped from one covert room to another, it was sobering to realize that my footsteps fell directly on top of those of the ill-fated asylum-seekers. Of the eight people who went into hiding, Anne’s father was the only one to survive their deportation. I found it especially sorrowful that after the war, he had to live with the knowledge that even after his Herculean efforts to rescue his family, he wasn’t able to save them. And throughout the entire museum, Anne’s own words, taken directly from her diary, projected as a reminder of the resiliency of the human spirit.
It is these expanded understandings, experiences, and emotions that make a visit to a historic place like this so worthwhile. The action makes the teacher a better teacher.
Author Terry Lee Marzell at the Anne Frank House Museum in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
If you are committed to making a pilgrimage to the Anne Frank house, you can only visit the museum by buying tickets for a specific day and time ahead of time. Tickets are released two months in advance, and you must buy your tickets online. The cost is 10 Euros for adults. To learn more, visit the website at the Anne Frank House Museum for additional information.
