In Kitty, 13-year-old Anne Frank wrote of her trying days living in the secret annex in Amsterdam, hiding from the Nazis. Typical to a teenager’s life, Anne wrote of her studies, her crushes and her family. But the diary is marked by tragedy looming large, that of the Holocaust, the genocide of millions of Jews. The family was eventually caught by the Nazis and Anne perished in a concentration camp. Her father, Otto Heinrich Frank, survived the Holocaust, and when he returned to the secret annex, he found Anne’s diary, which is among the most read books of all time.
This week, her life and times comes alive in a travelling exhibition, Anne Frank - A History for Today , organised by Anne Frank House, created by Anne Frank’s father, Otto Frank. The exhibition will have 32 panels, with timelines with photographs and text, from Anne Frank’s life, starting with her birth. The panels will also have world events from that time. “Otto Frank requested that the house where they were hiding, should be a museum. He hoped that young students would be educated and that the atrocity like the Holocaust should never happen again,” says Loes Singels of Anne Frank House, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. The Anne Frank House is an independent organization entrusted with the care of the Secret Annex. Its mission is to bring the story of Anne Frank’s life to attention to people the world over to remind them of the need to reflect on the dangers of discrimination, racism and anti-Semitism and the importance of freedom, equal rights and democracy.
“Our motto is ‘remember, reflect and react’, so that we always remember and ensure that such atrocities do not occur again,” says Priya Machado of Anne Frank House. But atrocities continue with impunity. Loes agrees and says, “The exhibition is about how people can use the story of Anne relating to current issues. After the Second World War, the United Nations drafted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. But this didn’t stop atrocities. The only way we can prevent human rights violations is to educate people about what intolerance can lead to if it isn’t stopped,” says Loes. Priya adds, “We hope through this exhibition, local stories emerge about human rights violation.”
The exhibition was held at the Gallery space in Seagull, Kolkata, in November 2013. Meena Malhotra, director Peace Works, an initiative of The Seagull Foundation for the Arts, had attended a conference for European history teachers, and it was there that she met Barry Driel, of Anne Frank House, who is in charge of education programmes and workshops. Meena approached Anne Frank House. “I asked if Anne Frank House would be interested to come to India,” says Meena.
Priya and Loes set up the Indian task force. “We went in 2012 to India for a fact finding mission in Kolkata. To bring the Anne Frank Project to any country, it is very important to partner with a local NGO. In 2013, after much communication with Peace Works, we exhibited at Seagull,” says Priya.
They brought the exhibition to Bengaluru due to the efforts of Ever After Learning, a Bengaluru-based learning and development company, run by Deeptha Vivekanand and Nisha Abdulla. “Deeptha was researching Anne Frank and she came across us. And they got in touch.
Deeptha and Nisha were interested in connecting with Anne Frank House. They got funding from the Israel Consulate,” says Meena. “A teacher at Bangalore International School had attended a teacher’s seminar at Goethe-Institut in 2013 and he showed interest in the exhibition and suggested the exhibition be displayed at Bangalore International School. And that’s how we got the venue,” says Priya.
Loes says that most people don’t always have an accurate understanding of Hitler. “He took advantage of the economic crisis of the time. He gave all that the people wanted, he made roads, he made railways, he gave jobs. He played with the people. He used propaganda to his advantage,” says Loes. She adds that it has been 70 years since the end of World War II and that the Concentration Camp at Auschitwz was one of the first camps to be liberated. It was done 70 years ago on January 27.
Anne Frank-A History for Today is presented by Ever After, Anne Frank House and PeaceWorks, Kolkata and has been funded by the Consulate General, Israel. The exhibition is being held at Bangalore International School, Geddalahalli Hennur, Bagalur Road, Kothanpur Post, Bengaluru-77. The exhibition will be open for viewing from February 11 to February 15, for schools and general public, from 10 am to 5 pm.
