An evening with Anne

Today was our last full day in Amsterdam, we had booked tickets for the Anne Frank House weeks ago, there were only two time slots available throughout March and April, one of which was tonight at 20:15. Babs wasn't feeling great so she decided to have a quiter, restful day in the hotel to make sure she was ok for going to the Anne Frank House tonight. After breakfast I went to the supermarket around the corner and got her some water and snacks, and then I headed off to the tram stop to go into town.

I got off at Prinsengracht which I thought (correctly) was the best stop for the Anne Frank House and after a quick look at my map, I set off to check the route for tonight so we would know exactly where we were going and how long it would take to get there, it was less than 10 mins walk to the house. Job done I decided to go for what turned out to be quite a long walk around the canals. It confirmed my impression of how busy and crowded the city is. I am convinced that all the photographs of the canals with the bridges and a few bikes leaning against the railings are fake. It is impossible to get a decent photograph without crowds of people in it or risking life and limb from the traffic, especially the bikes which come at you very fast from all directions. Having said that, I did enjoy the walk, the old part of the city is beautiful and fascinating architecturally.

I made my way back into the centre and got on the tram to Museumplein and went to the museum gift shop for a few souvenirs, and got something to eat from one of the street vendors before making my way back to the hotel.

Barbara and I were really looking forward to the visit to the Anne Frank House, Barbara has been reading the book. we set off in good time and got a tram almost immediately. We arrived about 30 minutes before our ticket time, surprisingly there was almost no queue, unlike every other time we had passed, though some folks were getting turned away because they had not booked tickets. I think it is one of the most popular tourist sites in the city. At first they said we couldn't go in early but it started to rain a bit and they took pity on us.

You have to leave your coat and bag at reception and no photographs are allowed once you pass through the barrier into the House - that didn't stop some people who took pictures in every room. We were offered an audio guide, Barbara took one but I declined. I guessed that there would be photographs and quotations from the diary throughout the house and rather than be told what to think or feel I wanted the house and the displays to speak for themselves.

The house is devoid of furniture apart from the bookcase that hid the entrance to the secret annexe, the walls bare apart from the occasional quotation or photograph of someone involved in the story. The remarkable thing about the Anne Frank story is that it is unremarkable in the sense that an untold number of people went through similar experiences. Yet her voice has been the one to tell that story, all the more moving because we get the sense of the loss of this bright, young woman who had so much potential. Subconsciously we multiply that by six million, and we begin to feel the weight of the loss to humanity.

The emptiness of the house makes it feel strangely claustrophobic, especially as you go up the very steep narrow wooden staircases. Step by step, room by room you begin to get a sense of what it must have been like for those hiding there. In that empty house worlds collide, the inhumane world of the Nazis, of war and hatred, the very worst that humans can be. Yet in that empty house you also get a sense of the love, the goodness, the kindness, and of the very best that we can be.

Towards the end of the tour through the museum there is a section that explores the impact of the diary globally. The 21st Century has seen a rise of far right movements and a sharp increase in anti-semitism and that gives the museum a sense of urgency, David Baddiel's recent book Jews Don't Count is a book that we would hope would never need to be written, but it did need to be written. The evil in the hearts of the Nazis and all who enabled remains a powerful force in the world today.

Anne Frank's story is not just a story from the past, it is a vital warning for the present and for the future. Visiting the Anne Frank House is a very moving experience, not merely because it offers a window into the past but also because it provides a lens through which to view our present, it stirs the conscience reminding us that tyranny and evil cannot be appeased, they must be opposed. The two worlds that collide in the Anne Frank House, are colliding all around us, if we would only open our eyes to see it.Read more