The Anne Frank House And Another Godwink (Day 13, Part 3 of 3)

I knew we wanted to visit the Anne Frank house while we were in Amsterdam.   Tickets must be purchased online and they become available 6 weeks in advance.  I purchased our tickets and added Monday, June 1 at 5:45 p.m. to our itinerary.  We walked a little ways from the zoo, hopped on a tram, then walked some more until we arrived at the Anne Frank house.

 

We had a bit of a wait until our time was called.  The young lady who was going to scan our tickets saw a picture of Bo and Olive on my phone.  "Are they your grandchildren?"  "My sister's grandchildren."  "Oh, my great aunt is one of my favorite people!"  Then she scanned our tickets and said, "These were for yesterday."  My heart sunk.  "Let me see if we can get you in."  A quick call to her associate inside and we were cleared to go in.

 

Godwinks continue:  if I had put the correct day in our itinerary, we would have been at the Anne Frank House on Sunday evening instead of going out to dinner near our hotel.  We would have never found my bike box.  My mistake was used to our benefit.

 

We entered the lobby of the house and were given headsets for the audio tour.  No pictures or video are allowed to be taken while in the house.   If you don't know the story of Anne and her family, please go here and read:  Who Was Anne Frank?  

 

When we got home from our trip, I re-read Anne's diary.  I know I read it years ago, but after seeing the house and hearing more of the stories, I viewed her diary through a different lens.  We followed the tour, listening and looking in each room.  It's not a large house, just lots of levels with narrow stairways.

 

I started to a write a few key points, but then this just turned into a history lesson.  There is a complete timeline here.  You may be tempted to skip this, please don't.  These were real people who lived in a horrible time.

 

Anne and her sister, Margot were born in Germany to Jewish parents Otto and Edith.  Margot was born in 1926 and Anne in 1929.  When Hitler came into power in 1933 their father knew they could not stay there.  Their family relocated to Amsterdam.  In 1940 Germany invaded the Netherlands.  After just five days of fighting, the Netherlands surrendered and the occupation began.  

 

The Nazis kept introducing new anti-Jewish measures. Jews were more and more restricted in their everyday lives, they had to obey the Nazi rules and could not be in contact with other, non-Jewish Dutch people. They were effectively excluded from society.  Anne and Margot were forced to leave their school and friends to attend a Jewish only school.

 

Anne received a diary when she turned 13 on June 12, 1942. On July 6, 1942, the family went in to hiding. They were joined on July 13th by the Van Pels family (Hermann, Auguste, and their son, Peter) and on November 16th Fritz Pfeffer joined them. Of the eight people who lived in the Secret Annex, only Otto Frank survived. 

 

The house was originally Otto Frank's business, the layout was:

 

The Front House (Business & Offices)
Ground Floor: The warehouse, goods dispatch entrance, and spice mills.
First & Second Floors: Originally Otto Frank’s business offices and storerooms.
 

The Secret Annex (The Hideout)
First Floor of the Annex: The second floor of the total building, containing the Franks' bedroom and the bathroom.
Second Floor of the Annex: The third floor of the total building, featuring the Van Pels' bedroom (which served as the shared kitchen) and Peter van Pels' room.
The Attic: Used for storage and as a retreat during the day.
The Loft: A small top-level space where Anne went to look out at the chestnut tree. 

 

In the first two years of the war, Germany won almost everywhere. By late 1942, the tide was turning, and the Allies forced Germany back.  June 6, 1944, while they were still in hiding D-Day happened. 

 

On August 4, 1944 the Secret Annex was discovered and they were all arrested and put in prison. No one knows how they were discovered or who might have tipped the police off.  On September 3rd they were taken to Auschwitz.  On November 1st, Anne, Margot and Mrs. Van Pels were taken to Bergen-Belsen concentration camp.  January 27, 1945 Auschwitz was liberated and Otto Frank was set free.

 

In February 1945, Anne and Margot both died in Bergen-Belsen.  On May 5, 1945, Germany surrendered and the Netherlands was liberated.  On June 3rd, Otto returned to Amsterdam.  In July he met with two sisters who had also been in Begren-Belsen.  They told him about the miserable last months of his daughters and how they had died of typhus.

 

There were several people who helped those in the Secret Annex during their time of hiding.  One of them was Miep Gies. She had kept Anne’s diaries for her. Now that Anne was not coming back, she handed the diaries to Otto.   It took some time before Otto finally read Anne's diary, but once he started reading, he was gripped by her writing. ‘I had no idea of the depths of her thoughts and feelings.’

 

Anne wrote in her diary that when the war was over she wanted to become a famous author.  After Otto read it, he decided to honor that dream.  Anne's wish came true on June 25, 1947 when her book was published: Het Achterhuis. Dagboekbrieven (The Secret Annex. Diary letters from 14 June 1942 - 1 August 1944). 3,000 copies were printed for the first edition.

Anne Frank had written: ‘Just imagine how interesting it would be if I were to publish a romance of the "Secret Annexe," the title alone would be enough to make people think it was a detective story.’ 

The book was well-received in the Netherlands, and the first Dutch edition soon sold out. In December 1947, after only six months, the second edition was published.  It has now been translated to more than 75 languages and sold 30-35 million copies.

The diary became so famous that people from all over the world wanted to visit the Secret Annex.  In 1960 the house was turned in to a museum.  Over 1.2 million people now visit each year.

 

As I mentioned, I re-read Anne's diary when we got home.  As I read, I thought about her father and how he must have felt.  She was a teenager, with all the drama and angst, she had disagreements with her parents, but she also had hopes and dreams.  She wrote about the excitement of D-Day.  They were sure liberation was just around the corner.  Her last entry was August 1, 1944, just three days before they were discovered.  They had no idea and her diary doesn't even hint that this would be her last entry.

 

We left the house feeling so much I don't even know how to describe it.  We did eventually find hamburgers for dinner and one last waffle with ice cream before heading back to the Hampton Inn to pack.  Our trip was coming to an end!

 

Dendermonde to Antwerp ~ Wissekerke Castle (Day 8, Part 2 of 3)

You can't be in Europe without encountering a castle or two!  The Wissekerke Castle is in the village of Bazel.  A castle has been in this location since the 10th century, the present castle was built in the 15th century with a lake, park and a suspension bridge built around the castle. The suspension bridge by the castle is one of the oldest surviving wrought iron suspension bridges in Europe and was designed in 1824.

 

The grounds are beautiful.  A bronze swan keeps watch while swans, geese and ducks glide in the lake.

 

 

Many famous people lived at Wissekerke castle, including the influential family of Vilain XIIII. For 139 years the members of this family were the mayors of Bazel.  The castle currently has a discovery tour that shows the castle through the eyes of Baroness Zoe de Felz, wife of Count Philippe-Louis Marie Ghislain Vilain XIIII, the mayor of Bazel from 1800 until 1856.

 

 

We purchased our tickets and were given headsets.  The tour was narrated by a woman, giving us a tour through the eyes and memories of the Baroness herself.

 

Wouldn't you like to be invited to a meal here? 

 

So many rooms!

 

A baby carriage:

Music room:

 

The Baroness was acquainted with Napoleon Bonaparte and had a painting of him on the same wall with a painting of her and her daughter.

 

The castle has its own chapel.

 

The next room was a ladies bed chamber:

 

The Baroness had a special mirror that allowed us to try on some of her hats.  We may have had just a little too much fun here!

 

One of the staircases:

 

They have an interactive area for school children:

 

We went in to their home theater.  A play was performed explaining some of Belgium's history and the Vilain family's involvement.

 

View from inside the castle.

 

I'm so glad we took the time to stop and explore this castle!