Amsterdam Honours Anne Frank

Anne Frank was 13 years old when she went into hiding in the annex where she lived with her parents from 6 July 1942 to 4 August 1944, when the family were arrested by the Grüne Polizei and Dutch police officers. Anne Frank probably died in Bergen-Belsen from typhus. After the betrayal, Anne’s diary was left behind in the Secret Annex. Otto Frank, Anne’s father, edited the texts and published the book in 1947 entitled ‘Het Achterhuis’.(The Secret Annex)

Tip: Join the Guided Anne Frank Walk
Take a guided walking tour through Amsterdam’s Jewish quarter. Hear the story of the city in World War II, see the statue of the Dockworker, the Portuguese synagogue and the Auschwitz monument. Your guide will point out places where resistance fighters found secret hideouts for families like the Frank family.

Monument of Anne Frank: Westermarkt

The statue at Westermarkt is very close to the house where the Frank family and some friend were hiding in World War II. It is close to the Westerkerk and on the junction of Prinsengracht and Westermarkt. This bronze statue depicts Anne Frank with her hands behind her back as she looks up full of hope and expectation.

Monument Anne Frank: Merwedeplein

The second statue is in a small park opposite Merwedeplein 37. This is the address of the apartment where the Frank family came to live in 1933, the year in which the family moved from Germany to Amsterdam. Anne was then four years old. They left this apartment on 8 July 1942 to go into hiding on the Prinsengracht, the business premises of her father and now the Anne Frank House. This sculpture shows Anne Frank on her way to the hiding place. She is wearing several layers of clothing and has a bag in one hand and a school bag under her other arm.

Anne’s Diary Entry

This is what Anne Frank wrote in her diary on Wednesday, July 8, 1942:

‘I was wearing two vests, three pairs of trousers, a dress and on top of it a skirt, a jacket, a raincoat, two pairs of stockings, sturdy shoes, a scarf, a cap and lots more. I was suffocating even before we left the house, but no one bothered to ask me how I felt.’

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