(member)

05/01/2009 20:23

Who's been to Anne Franks house?

THere was a programe on tonight about Anne frank although i missed it.

Has anyone been to her hide away in Amsterdam?

(member)

05/01/2009 20:26

Re: Who's been to Anne Franks house?

Yes i have,its very harrowing reading all the letters, i was in tears all the way round, i couldnt read them all.

(member)

05/01/2009 20:34

Re: Who's been to Anne Franks house?

Sassy,If you have time could you tell me a little more about it please.I realise i can look it up on the net but woul;d love you to tell me what you think.If you prefer pm me?

(member)

05/01/2009 20:35

Re: Who's been to Anne Franks house?

Hi Summer, the Anne Frank story is on every night, so you've only missed the first instalment.

A visit to the house is a definite must when in Amsterdam -a very moving experience.

(member)

05/01/2009 20:42

Re: Who's been to Anne Franks house?

We've been too Summer! Excellent if a little bit emotional.

(member)

05/01/2009 20:48

Re: Who's been to Anne Franks house?

I've been. Shame there were so many other people there at the time though, it kind of spoils the whole experience being packed in with lots of other tourists.

(member)

05/01/2009 20:51

Re: Who's been to Anne Franks house?

I remember reading the book. I was about 9 years old, it was in the class library (an orange box) and the pages were loose. I started it on Friday afternoon, and asked the teacher if I could take it home - something not usually allowed. She said yes.

I showed it to my dad, who said nothing, but bought me a big bag of my favourite sweets (sounds silly, but if you knew my dad it meant a lot.) Later on, I found out he was one of the first of the Allied Army to drive into Belsen.

Years later, when my father finally started to talk about the war, my daughter asked about Belsen, but my Dad couldn't tell her. I bought her Anne Frank's diary. The next time he visited, she showed him the book, told him she had read it and hugged him. He gave her a hug. No words. They weren't necessary

..wispa

(member)

05/01/2009 20:51

Re: Who's been to Anne Franks house?

its a long story,too long to go through on here. It is very busy there,its a major attraction in Amsterdam as you can imagine.You must go Summer,its a great weekend break there

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05/01/2009 20:52

Re: Who's been to Anne Franks house?

I have been twice Summer, first time with OH, second time with ED when she was about 15. Both times left me unable to speak for quite a while (and that doesn't happen often) I think it was because I had read her diary, seen documentaries etc and it was so real. Everything was exactly as she described. When I was a teenager the same age as she was when she was hiding I identified with her - same name, same spelling, and I wasn't very happy either, although far from her level of suffering, and then I was standing in her home reading the words on the actual paper, looking at the pictures, even the toilet she described so vividly. I think its one of the things everyone should do once.

(member)

05/01/2009 20:54

Re: Who's been to Anne Franks house?

The one place you have to go in Amsterdam. Sadly, other British in the queue had no idea who she was and likened the place to Gracelands! We were appalled at their ignorance really. Well worth a visit.

(member)

05/01/2009 20:56

Re: Who's been to Anne Franks house?

I have only been to Amsterdam once, in my twenties with a gang of friends...we didn't visit Anne Franks house as we were too busy frequenting the "coffee shops"!!

I would love to go back though and do al the touristy things. x

(member)

05/01/2009 21:07

Re: Who's been to Anne Franks house?

Her diaries should be compulsory reading for every child in the UK!

Maybe then they would understand why our forces fought in the war.

And why they should be so grateful!

..wispa

(member)

05/01/2009 21:12

Re: Who's been to Anne Franks house?

Here here Wispa, my two did at school.It must have been horrific for your dad, you just cant imagine.

(member)

05/01/2009 21:19

Re: Who's been to Anne Franks house?

Hi summer and everyone
I visited Anne Frank's house about 17 years ago. It was such a moving experience.

I watched the first of the series tonight and thought it was excellent.

wispa - I agree.

(member)

05/01/2009 21:28

Re: Who's been to Anne Franks house?

Selfish moment!!!

Dad died 1 year ago tomorrow! He had a "good war" in his opinion, as he came home alive. So many dod not.

Please forgive my arrogance, but sometimes I feel the only difference between me and Anne Frank is the North Sea. I'm sure you all know what I mean. And I am so proud of my Dad, and all his fellow soldiers.

..wispa

(member)

05/01/2009 21:30

Re: Who's been to Anne Franks house?

I visited Amsterdam a couple of years ago and the highlight for me was the Anne Frank house. Yes it was busy, although we did go early and beat the queues, but I was so wrapped up in all the memorabilia and letters that it didn't bother me. There is a small statue around the corner from the house, of a young girl meant to be Anne. A very emotional/poignant experience.
Rainbow.x

(member)

05/01/2009 21:38

Re: Who's been to Anne Franks house?

I've been there as well. Wasn't too crowded as we went to Amsterdam for a weekend in February and made it our first stop of the day. But as others have said previously, was very moving. We sat in the cafe afterwards to take stock a bit before we could move on to the next thing.

Bunnygirl

(member)

05/01/2009 21:43

Re: Who's been to Anne Franks house?

Yes I have summer and it was a very sobering and moving place to visit. I couldn't bring myself to visit the concentration camps but this was just as thought provoking and I would strongly suggest if you can go and visit the family house then do.

For my daughters art project one year, GCSE I think, she painted Anne Frank including an extract from her diary with her family photos to form a piece of art.
Our daughter had visited a very well put together travelling exhibition with me here in the UK on the story of Anne Frank and her family at our local Bexley museum that spring I think.
-----------
dbverycherry

(member)

05/01/2009 21:52

Re: Who's been to Anne Franks house?

I agree Wispa,my father was one of the pilots who gave
their lives in that war...went to Anne Franks house when
it first opened ,had already read the book with a group of
friends when it was first published in the 50,s...just
upset us so much..still remember the sick feeling could not
watch the programme tonight.

(member)

05/01/2009 22:08

Re: Who's been to Anne Franks house?

OMG I have just read my post back and it sounds so flippant..I actually didn't really read the other posts before I put mine on.I am really sorry if I have offended anyone.I just don't think sometimes.

My daughter has read the book and she was extremely moved by it.I will try and watch the programme tomorrow.xx

(member)

05/01/2009 22:20

Re: Who's been to Anne Franks house?

Thank you for your replys Ladies.Sadly the only time ive been to Amsterdam was with Westham ladies but hope to go back this year to see Anne's home.

(member)

05/01/2009 22:22

Re: Who's been to Anne Franks house?

I've been to Anne Frank's house and found it very moving.

I also went to Auschwitz/Birkenau last year, and it was a very harrowing and moving place to visit.

I was sorry that I missed the programme this evening but will try to watch it tomorrow.

(member)

06/01/2009 07:52

Re: Who's been to Anne Franks house?

At times have seen quite a bit of Amsterdam, as would be understandable...... but NEVER have been to the Anne Frank House..... NEVER will go!..... NEVER want to go!!
In my much younger years, I read some of Anne's diaries....
During the war, my mother did her bit for the resistance, as did my grandparents, for the house was a safe house for Jewish people fleeing to England or Switserland..... I have heard all the stories. As a toddler I saw the results of the war.... of the bombings, the destruction, and I could feel the fear and the terror like electricity crackling in the now calm summery sun......
I used to love listening to Dvorak's Slavonic Dances when I was about 10... 11 yrs old. I had the record on as I read about the monstrous horrors of the concentration camps..... All these years later, I cannot listen to that music anymore without feeling physically sick!
I am avoiding the series on TV now too at all costs!!
I know that things change.... and for Germany they certainly have..... but there is a part of me that cannot forget..... and it taints my present day feelings towards the Germans..... sorry, but true.....

(member)

06/01/2009 10:58

Re: Who's been to Anne Franks house?

I've been. Make sure you get there 10-15 mins before official opening time as the queues can be horrendous.

My dad was a prisoner in one of Stalin's gulags. The young Poles were starved and used as slave-labour in the Siberian forests and mines. He only survived due to the fact that Hitler, in his madness, decided to attack Russia, so Poland became an ally. The youths and remaining men were taken into the British Army, and after the War, my dad ended up here in the UK. Funny old world.

(member)

06/01/2009 11:38

Re: Who's been to Anne Franks house?

I've been, and found it very moving. The word that came to my mind at the time was 'humbling'.

(member)

06/01/2009 14:33

Re: Who's been to Anne Franks house?

As we were resident in Antwerp for 15 years, Amsterdam was a frequent day out for us: so visiting Anna Frank's house was incorporated into one of these trips. A very sobering and sad experience but what probably no-one knows is that there is a fortified area outside Bruxelles [Fort Breendonck] which was a collection point/interrogation point for Jews, Communists, dissident Catholic priests et al which is also now open to the public. To exit, one has to pass through the execution point where the scars are still clearly visible on the walls. It was so harrowing I cried and could not speak for 15 minutes. OH has asked whether I should like to visit Auschwitz, Bergen-Belsen, Dachau [he has been] but it would be just too upsetting.

(member)

06/01/2009 16:41

Re: Who's been to Anne Franks house?

Summer,

We also lived a drive away from Amsterdam, as we lived in Germany for many years. I had many opportunities to visit the concentration camps but declined.

I visited the house numerous times, especially when friends and family came to visit, and found it really quite unnerving, I couldnt believe how chlosterphobic it was, and how the family lived there for so long.

As a child born in 1944, not old enough to have experienced anything to do with the war, we all get told different stories by our parents etc, we all know certain situations were horrific, and things that happened, must never be allowed to ever happen again.

In this country we have never had to live with a foreign military presence, I cant imagine what it must have been like, and how terribly frightened everyone must have felt.

I shall watch the programme that is on BBC 1 every night this week about Anne Frank, because I feel that apart from telling the story of a young girl, and her experiences of life during a war, it was just one incident of the desperation to survive in that awful time.

Plasmo x

(member)

06/01/2009 17:13

Re: Who's been to Anne Franks house?

Thank you so much for all your replys Ladies.I hope to have it on my list of things to do this year.

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