Manual Guide For Anne Frank A History For Today

Manual Guide

for the travelling exhibition

“Anne Frank – A History For Today»

1.Introduction
The Anne Frank House in Amsterdam
The “Anne Frank House” was founded on the 3rd of May 1957, because people wanted to preserve the
house at Prinsengracht 263 and prevent it from being torn down. It was in this house that Anne Frank
hid from the Nazis with seven other Jews for two years. The house was opened as a museum for the
general public in 1960. Since its opening, people from all over the world have visited what used to be the
secret annex. With more than a million visitors each year, the Anne Frank House is one of the most visited
museums in the Netherlands. Despite the fact that the Holocaust lies further and further behind us, the
number of visitors to the museum increases each year, attesting to the importance of Anne Frank’s Diary
for future generations.
The travelling Anne Frank exhibition

The international exhibition “Anne Frank – A History For Today» has travelled all over the world, and is
presented more than 150 times per year. The worldwide tour is coordinated by the Anne Frank House,
but the local organisation is in the hands of partner organisations.
The Anne Frank exhibition tells the story of Anne Frank against the background of the Holocaust and the
Second World War. Various versions of the exhibition are available. They are similar in content, but differ
in design and scale. The exhibition is usually presented for a period of two to four weeks. The exhibition
is accompanied by materials including a catalogue, a DVD and a handbook for guides.
In many countries the presentation of the exhibition has led to follow-up activities such as teacher trai-
ning courses, theatre presentations and educational projects for school students.
Teaching about the life of Anne Frank and the history of the Holocaust is not done to advance a par-
ticular opinion or accounting of events, but instead to encourage people to think for themselves and
develop their own opinions and actions. Critical thinking is a key feature of democratic societies.
Personal stories
Individual accounts create a greater impact that recounting pure facts or statistics. As educators and
exhibition guides we want to invite visitors to gain a better idea what it must have felt like for a par-
ticular person to live through the period of history discussed in the exhibition. By understanding the
“small” actions that took place during the Holocaust and the lead up to this tragedy, we are better able
to connect this history to today’s world. Ideally, we would like people to respect the human rights and
dignity of those around us and to take action where necessary to defend the rights of others.
Perpetrators, victims, bystanders, helpers

Those who actively violated the human rights of others during the period of National Socialism are best
referred to as perpetrators, while those who were persecuted can be referred to as victims or targets.
Many groups became the victims of the Nazi persecution policies, but the main victims were Jews. It is
often said that ‘not all victims were Jews, but all Jews were victims’.
Those who helped victims are best described as helpers or upstanders. These people often risked their
jobs, and even their lives. Finally, we distinguish a category of people who remained on the sidelines.
These were people who did not get involved while the atrocities of the Holocaust unfolded. We refer
to this group as bystanders. These categories are useful but not always mutually exclusive. Some vic-
tims also became perpetrators and some perpetrators later became victims or even helpers. This is
part of the reason we refrain from calling Germany and Austria ‘guilty countries’ and the Netherlands a
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‘victim’ or Germans and Austrians ‘perpetrators’ and the Dutch, French or Belgians ‘victims’. Within each
country, and even among their political leadership, we can find people who fit all categories. By labeling
countries or entire populations as ‘perpetrators’ or ‘victims’, would give people the false impression that
the situation was less complex than it actually was. There were for instance German and Austrian victims
and Dutch people who decided to support the Nazis. You could find this situation throughout Europe
and beyond. Not all Germans were Nazis and not all Nazis were Germans.
Aims of the exhibition

1. To inform visitors about the history of the Holocaust from the perspective of Anne Frank and her
family. To show historical facts and events that governed their lives, thus illustrating the effects of
National Socialism on one particular Jewish family.
2. To show visitors that differences between people exist in all societies (cultural, ethnic, religious,
political or otherwise). In many countries, however, there are people who consider themselves supe-
rior to others, and deny them the right to equal treatment. To show also that these ideas might lead
to discrimination, exclusion, persecution, and even murder.
3. To encourage visitors to analyze the concepts of intolerance, persecution, exclusion, mutual res-
pect, human rights, democracy, and their meaning for us.
4. To convince visitors that the creation of a society in which differences between people are respec-
ted is not something automatic. In addition to laws (and their implementation), it is essential that
each individual is committed to defending the rights of others to the best of his or her ability.
Structure of the exhibition

Anne Frank’s life is the thread that one can find throughout the exhibition. The experiences of the
Frank family sheds light on events and processes that took place before, during and after Second
World War. The exhibition contains many photos of the Frank family that are combined with other
photos and information about historical events. The story told in the exhibition presents the concrete
consequences of the political decisions that were made at the time, and also the consequences that
individual choices had for others who were persecuted, like the Frank family.
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Anne Frank’s diary is read around the globe. It has become such an important educational tool, both
in and outside of classrooms because of its broad relevance. Many read the diary and recognise how
Anne can serve as a symbol for the enormous suffering of millions of people during the period of
the Holocaust. Others see her more in terms of the writer she aspired to be. Still others focus on the
strength and courage that characterised Anne during her time in hiding and her keen understanding
of both the world and human nature, something she continues to pass on through her writing to
young and old alike. The use of quotes in the exhibition brings the remarkable writing of this young
girl to life and gives us insight into her unique vision.
Anne Frank was born June 12, 1929 in Germany at a time when Germany was being deeply effec-
ted by political turmoil and by the world economic crisis. Many “found shelter” in extreme political
views. Both the extreme right (i.e. National-Socialist) and left (i.e. Communists) tended to benefit
from these situations. Violence had become a part of everyday life in Germany. The NSDAP (National
Socialist German Workers Party), its leader Adolf Hitler and their followers (called Nazis) believed that
the German people were a superior ‘race’ and had a special mission to fulfill; Jews and other minori-
ties were believed to be responsible for everything that had gone wrong in society.
The Frank family was apprehensive about these changes but Anne still had a happy childhood. Pho-
tos show how the family enjoyed a normal life in Frankfurt. The NSDAP became the largest political
party in Germany after elections in November 1932, and in January 1933 Adolf Hitler and the Nazis
came into power. Fearing growing anti-Jewish sentiment, Otto Frank emigrated to Amsterdam. The
rest of his family soon followed. Immediately after coming into power, the Nazis introduced anti-
Jewish measures. While Jews and other minorities gradually suffered more and more oppression in
Germany (the November Pogrom – sometimes called the Night of Broken Glass - in November 1938
represented the worst incident until that moment), the Frank family seemed to be safe in Amster-
dam.
The following years were still happy ones for Anne, as she later described in her diary. But the suf-
fering of war was not far away. The Second World War began when German troops marched into
Poland on September 1, 1939. This caused more concern for the Frank family but these events had
no immediate consequences for family life. Jews in Central and Eastern Europe were less fortunate. A
reign of terror against minorities quickly became the standard policy of the invading German armies.
Jews were forced out of their homes and into ghettos in many cities.
The situation in the Netherlands changed drastically when the German army invaded the country.
After May 10, 1940, it became almost impossible for people at risk of persecution to flee the Nether-
lands. By then, the Nazis had started to persecute Jews and other minorities in Western Europe as
well. The persecution became worse and went beyond denying people of their basic human rights.
With their attack on the Soviet Union in June 1941, deportations to so-called death camps began.
The plan to systematically murder all Jews (called ‘The Final Solution’) was put into action after the
Wannsee-conference in January 1942, but mass executions of Jews had already started a year earlier.
Margot Frank was the first of the Frank family to receive a call-up to “abroad” in July 1942. This call-
up led to great consternation in the Frank family and the Franks decided to leave the safety of their
home behind for an uncertain, confined and risky life in the secret annex behind Otto Frank’s com-
pany.
Miep Gies was Otto Frank’s secretary. Without her and the other helpers, it would have been abso-
lutely impossible for the people in hiding to live in the secret annex. Miep Gies, often considered a
heroine, however, emphasized again and again after the war that people don’t have to be heroes to
help others.
There were eight people who lived in the secret annex at Prinsengracht 263 between July 1942 and
August 1944: The Frank family, the Van Pels family (married couple and their son Peter) and a former
dentist by the name of Fritz Pfeffer. In her diary, Anne Frank refers to the Van Pels family as the “Van
Daans” and Fritz Pfeffer as “Albert Dussel”. They constantly were in fear to be discovered. That meant
a death sentence. Quotes taken from Anne’s diary give insight into the feelings people in hiding had.
The eight people in hiding were betrayed on August 4, 1944, and immediately arrested. Later they
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were brought to the transit camp Westerbork and from there they were deported to Auschwitz death
camp in nazi occupied Poland (on September 3, 1944). Auschwitz was the largest and most notorious
of the Nazi death camps. More than one million people were murdered in Auschwitz. Anne and Mar-
got Frank survived the first months in Auschwitz but were deported in November 1944 to another
concentration camp called Bergen-Belsen, near Hannover in Germany.
After Europe was liberated from the Nazis in May 1945, there was a celebratory mood throughout
Europe. But not everybody felt like celebrating. In addition to happiness about the end of the war,
there was still a lot of suffering and uncertainty in the weeks and months ahead: many people dico-
vered the horrible news that their families and loved ones would never return. During the first few
years after the war, the injustice and pain that the Jews had experienced were rarely a topic of dis-
cussion. With some 50 million war deaths in total, the suffering and pain had been extensive. People,
even many Jews, wanted to forget the war as fast as possible – they wanted to move on with their
lives and build up a new existence.
Miep Gies, who had found Anne’s diary in the secret annex, gave it to Otto Frank after it became clear
that Anne and Margot had died of typhus in Bergen-Belsen. Otto Frank decided to publish the diary,
following the wishes of his daughter. Since this time, Anne Frank’s diary has become synonymous
with the persecution of Jews during the Second World War. After the war, a new attempt was made to
create a new international body that could help prevent war and genocide in the future. The United
Nations was founded on June 26 1945, followed by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights on
December 10, 1948. Despite this important document and many like it in later years, racism, anti-
Semitism and other forms of discrimination still exist in our society today. The exhibition emphasises
that every nation has the duty to combat racism and discrimination, but that every individual also
has a responsibility to take a stand on these issues and defend the human rights of others.
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2.Guiding groups
Preparation
You can prepare yourself for your task even before you see the exhibition for the first time. For ins-
tance, you could (re-)read Anne Frank’s diary and/or watch the DVD “The Short Life of Anne Frank”.
The Anne Frank House has several educational websites. There are many other websites with general
information about the Second Worl War. Remember though, we do not expect you to be a professio-
nal historian and know every detail. Most important is to get people to reflect on the past, present
and future and their own role in actively spreading the key insights presented in the exhibition. You
should also think about the message you would like to get across. This could be a thought, a reflec-
tion about what happened, and it could also be related to present events. Of course, the message
should be related to the themes and topics that are discussed in the exhibition.
Structure of a guided tour

The Beginning
Beginnings are important. The more you know about the group before it arrives the better. Try to
find out from the organisers whether the subject of the Holocaust or the Second World War has
been taught at school and if so, when and how. Is there anything special you should know about the
group? How old are the pupils?
As the group arrives, have a few words with the teacher. You can find out whether anything has hap-
pened that day or week which might have influenced the pupils’ concentration. Also, a brief chat can
help teachers reassure themselves that you are somebody they can entrust the class to. In addition,
he or she can help you in case the group does not pay attention.
At the beginning, the group might be mulling around, lacking focus. You need to gain their concen-
tration and invite them to actively participate in the tour from the very beginning. It is vital that
you give the participants an opportunity to say something (no matter what!) very early on. At this
point, the only priority needs to be that the group members feel engaged in the tour. Experience has
shown that if people do not have an opportunity to speak at the beginning of a tour, they often say
nothing at all for its entire duration.
Prepare a good opening phrase: greet the group and introduce yourself. The pupils probably do not
know. If you make your introduction personal it is more likely that they will work with you. You can
for instance talk about what motivated you to become a guide and maybe what you personally have
learned from the exhibition (though you might want to leave this until the end).
After introducing yourself, you can ask, for instance, what the group has done so far that day, what
they think of Anne Frank, what particularly interests them about her. You can ask how they have pre-
pared for the visit (the teacher might have mentioned something and you can get this confirmed).
Some pupils may have read the diary and remember something about it or have some questions
about what they read (you can then mention that you will try to answer those questions as the tour
proceeds). You can ask whether any of them keep a diary themselves and what this means to them?
If so, how does it differ from Anne’s diary? Is there anything unusual in reading someone else’s diary?
During the guiding, you will most likely be confronted by different pupil reactions - interest, surprise,
pity, disgust, skepticism, dismissal, and boredom. Always try to remember why you decided to do
this work and why you feel the exhibition is important. It could be helpful to meet with the other
guides beforehand and talk about why the exhibition is important to everybody and what they think
the main things are that they want to get across.
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Doing the guiding
During the actual guiding through the exhibition, it will be up to you to arouse the participants’ inte-
rest in the history of Anne Frank, to teach them about the Holocaust and encourage them to reflect
on their own attitude towards human rights. A few tips:
• Instead of telling the group that the Franks were an ordinary family, try to have them discover this
themselves. The more people discover things themselves, the more they feel part of the process of
learning something. In the same way, attempt to have the pupils come to the realization that the
Franks were innocent victims and that they were in no way responsible for the horrible things they
were forced to experience.
• Try to get the pupils to realise that the Nazis were mostly ordinary people as well and that many
ordinary Germans came to believe the Nazi promises through very effective propaganda. However, it
is also good to point out that not all Germans joined the Nazis. Many opposed the Nazis in small ways
and more significantly, some Germans took great risks to help Jews that they did not even know.
They risked their jobs and even their lives. Return frequently to the subject of what these historical
issues can mean to us today.
Make sure that you use words that are not too difficult for the age and ability of your group and fully
explain unusual words (such as ‘scapegoats’). We have defined some key concepts in the glossary.
Be aware of the attention span of your group. For pupils and a number of the teachers, these events
took place long before they were born. You can ask the teachers and the pupils why, in their opi-
nion, this history is important to our world today (a good question especially at the end). You can
help make cautious connections to today’s world to generate responses (do we still have genocides
today, do we still have racism, are there still Nazis or people who believe in some of the same things
that Hitler’s Nazis believed in?).
As much as possible, make use of the photographs on the panels, any objects that might be present,
any talks that you might have heard (for instance from a survivor) and even the atmosphere created
by the exhibition. These are the things that make the exhibition come to life for the pupils. You can
use, for example, a quotation from the exhibition or from Anne’s Diary for discussion purposes.
However, do not end up just reading all the time.
Be aware of your time limitations. Your actual time for guiding is usually an hour or less. It is impos-
sible, however to have a standard plan for every guided tour. Some groups will ask more questions
than others and this means that you might have to talk about less photos or topics, and have more
discussion. As has been already stated, the most important thing is to interact with the group and to
get them to participate as much as possible. A successful tour is a tour where the pupils comment,
ask questions of clarification, offer their opinions and engage in (brief) discussion. Nevertheless,
there are some basic points for conducting a good guided tour, and we will talk about this in the
next paragraphs.
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Be aware of chronological nature of the exhibition. Pupils will usually expect to be shown the exhi-
bition chronologically. The difficulty is that it is impossible to focus on each panel (let alone every
photo) in the time that you have available. In our experience, a chronological tour works best if you
choose no more than 30 photographs to show your visitors. Even if your tour lasts 45 minutes, this
still only means less than 1½ minutes per photo (allowing for moving from one panel to the next).
Concentrate on these photographs (unless your group is particularly interested in some of the other
photos) and pass all the others with just a few explanatory words.
Closing the tour

Most tours end when the final panels have been presented and hopefully discussed in brief. It is
good to have an idea of how much time you still have, if any. Hopefully, you were able to make sure
during your tour that you had some time left at the end for discussion. Some closing statements, no
matter how short, are appropriate. Remember, the pupils have just been introduced to (or learned
more about) one of the darkest periods in human history. This deserves some reflection. You cannot
read the minds of the pupils, but most will be affected in some way by what they have seen and
heard.
Once in a while, for whatever reason, it can happen that you cannot keep the attention of the group.
In such situations there is no harm in asking the teacher whether you should finish early and ask the
pupils to pay attention for another ten minutes so that you can finish your program.
The closing comments should ideally allow reflection on the link between the exhibition themes and
life in today’s world. This is the moment to talk about the relevance of the exhibition for the pupils
and their lives.
Every tour should end with an expression of thanks to the group for having listened attentively - this
indicates that the tour is now really over. If you wish, you can also thank the teacher; from whom
you may well get an idea of what the impact was of your presentation. Also ask them to inform the
exhibition organizers of any further work they might undertake in school.
Have a look at several examples of how to end your guided tour:
1. A common way to end one’s tour is to summarise some of the main things the students saw in the
exhibition and to also come back to one or more key comments that the group made.
2. You might want to focus on the main lessons in the exhibition and a message that the pupils can
take with them. Be careful that this message is not too preachy.
3. You can invite the pupils to come visit the exhibition again so that they see the rest of the photos
and information. They can also be invited to come back with their friends and family members.
4. You can make suggestions for the teachers and pupils as to how they can engage in activities that
are a good follow-up to the exhibition. Often, communities that host the exhibition have a number
of other events planned, like talks, plays, music and films.
5. If the pupils have a lot of extra time you can suggest ways in which they can make good use of
their time in the exhibition. For example, you can ask the pupils, individually or in small groups, to
go around the exhibition once more to find the photograph which impressed them most or you can
also ask them to write their reflections about the exhibition. Many exhibition venues provide a ‘guest
book’ or some other way for people to write down what they think.
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Individual visits
Another possibility is to let a group explore the exhibition without a guide. This can be done in
various ways:
- Let them look at the exhibition in the order they prefer, without any specific instructions, and ask
them about their opinion afterwards;
- Ask the students (either individual students or small groups) to go and find the photo that im-
pressed them the most and to think about who could have taken the photo and why, what might
have happened before and after the photo was taken, what the photo represents and what the
people in the photo might be thinking/feeling/doing etc. They can carefully mark their favorite pho-
tos with a piece of masking tape or a post-it. After they have done so you take the group through
the exhibition and discuss the photos with them, telling them about the background of the photos,
going from one photo to the next.
- You separate one large group into several small ones, ask them to collect all sorts of information
linked to a certain topic and then present what they discovered to the rest of the group.
Advantages of individual visits

- Especially interesting for participants, lets them actively explore things themselves;
- Even makes the small parts of the exhibition an important part of the visit;
- Focuses on individual demands that the visitors might have and allows them to explore in the way
they deem appropriate, spending more time where they want this; and
- Enables you and the visitors to experience the exhibition in an intense way
Disadvantages
- May take a lot of time;
- Students often need to be motivated, they need to be supported and encouraged;
- The students might miss key photos and information, since they might be unable to distinguish
between key events and minor events; and
- You will need to be able to link all the photos and themes to one another
Contents of the exhibition

The Anne Frank - A History for Today exhibition consists of the “personal history” of Anne Frank and
the “larger history” of the Second World War.
- Panels 1-7 focus on Anne Frank’s life in Germany against the backdrop of Nazis coming into
power in Germany.
- Panels 8-13 show how Anne Frank and her family were able to live in safety in the Netherlands. The
panels also show how the Nazi’s created a dictatorship that started to completely control all aspects
of German society.
- Panels 14-18 show how war changed life in the Netherlands and how Anne started to write in her
diary. This is shown against the backdrop of the Second World War and the persecution of the Jews
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- Panels 19-25 describe life in the secret annex and how the people in hiding were betrayed and
arrested.
- Panels 26-31 describe how Otto Frank published his daughter’s diary. The “larger history” tells about
concentration camps and the Holocaust.
- Panels 32 and 33 discuss the period after the Second World War and the establishment of the United
Nations.
The path through the exhibition

Some guides prefer to have a specific focus as they take a group through the exhibition. One pos-
sibility is to tell people more about the story of the Frank family and the others in hiding. This is a
good way to introduce people to the main issues in the exhibition, but also suitable for students who
already have some general knowledge about this period of time, but know rather little about the
Franks. A focus on historical facts and an overview of the Second World War could be another focus.
This approach might be appropriate for people who already know a good deal about Anne Frank.
You can also focus on the persecution of the Jews, prejudice and discrimination in general or human
rights issues. In that case, the story of Anne Frank provides insight into these issues. This approach
might be suitable for older students. A focus on issues such as human rights does demand more
knowledge on these issues for you as a guide.
Guiding: be flexible
Guides tend to find it useful to be flexible while taking groups through the exhibition. One can never
be sure which questions or discussions will arise. Each group is different (different energy level, dif-
ferent preparation) and an experienced guide will learn to take advantage of this. But this does take
some confidence and some experience.
Working with younger students

Primary school students often visit the exhibition. With younger students, it is often best to focus
on Anne Frank herself, since they might be easily overwhelmed by the facts relating to the Second
World War and the Holocaust. Younger students tend to respond well to details such as the writing
of the diary and its contents, the movable bookcase or a specific photo. Suitable themes can be
“friendship” (Do you have a best friend? Why did Anne call her diary “Kitty”?), “hiding” (Have you
ever tried to hide from people? Why? What was that like for you? Why did Anne hide?), “helping” or
“outsiders”. Children can also discuss what they already know about Anne Frank. Realize that some
children – for a variety of reasons – might not want to respond to confrontational questions. Do not
force the issue.
Working with photos

Try as much as possible to use the photos during the exhibition and try to sense what the group
would like to hear. Reading a pre-prepared script or reading directly from the panels is usually less
appreciated by groups, since they could also do this themselves. Naturally, you can always use a
quote (for instance from the diary) to introduce a certain issue, but it’s difficult to do that with every
issue. The following questions can help get a discussion going about certain photos:
- What do you see in this photo?
- Where and when do you think it was probably taken?
- What do you see in the faces of the people in the photo? Why do you think this is the case?
- Who do you think took this photo? Why? Where was he/she standing?
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- What do you think happened shortly before or after the photo was taken?
The photos can help you steer the course of the discussion and also help students discover things
they might not know or expect. Here are a few tips:
- Try to have the group find out for themselves that the Frank family was actually just a normal family.
There was no reason to view them as enemies or threats.
- Let students discover that many Nazis were also normal people, that a lot of normal people belie-
ved in the Nazi belief system and all the promises and mythology that was part of this belief system.
- Show them that people did have options and choices, though not always easy ones: Many people
decided to join the resistance and many helped victims.
- Keep on drawing their attention to the role of the bystanders. What was the reason that so many
bystanders kept silent and did not do anything about the situation? Do you think you would you
have behaved differently? Why or why not?
If you want to ask a question, first reflect on what the possible response might be. If you ask a ques-
tion and you are not sure what you might do with the responses, you might not want to ask the
question.
Questions and discussions, not monologues!

You’ve probably been guided through a museum at least once in your life. Why were some so incre-
dibly boring? One reason is definitely that in traditional tours, the content of the exhibition is explai-
ned in long, tedious monologues. It almost sounds as if somebody is simply reading a text to you.
Hopefully that was not the case.
It is a good thing if groups manage to influence their tour guide. It’s worth trying to find out what
the group already knows, their opinions and what they are interested in. Naturally, you can also
answer in a more detailed way to some questions, but if somebody asks you why the Franks fled Ger-
many and you start to explain anti-semitism during the Middle Ages then that’s probably not what
the person wanted to know. If you, however, point out other interesting stories in your answer, you
encourage people to ask more questions.
Your “thread” through the exhibition

Make a careful decision about which photos and themes interest you and tell the story of the exhibi-
tion. This also depends very much on the time you are planning to use - if you want to use 5 minutes
for one photo, this gives you the time to talk about eight photos in 40 minutes (if the tour through the
exhibition is 40 minutes). Try not to show the entire content of the exhibition - this takes too much
time. Your selection has to fit your interests. In this way, the tour will be most authentic. Your “thread”
also helps you when something goes wrong or when you don’t really know how to continue after a
difficult question. With a thread you can simply continue with the next photo in your thread and feel
comfortable again. As you gain more experience you will learn to use different photos depending on
the questions and comments you get. While at first many guides wonder how they will get through
40 minutes, after some experience the issue is more how to get through so much information is such
a short time and not to run out of time halfway through the exhibition.
How do I stand in front of a group?

You’ll most probably know what it’s like to stand in front of your classmates, having to do a presenta-
tion and being very nervous because of it. Such reactions are totally normal. Here are some tips you
might want to consider:
-Eye contact: Only when you look at people directly will they feel approached and listen carefully.
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Here it is especially important not to forget that the group members in the last row are distracted
more easily and that you should also look at them when possible. But if you feel a little nervous,
focus on those paying attention. It will help you regain your confidence.
-Speak loudly: If you try talking to the person standing the farthest from you, the loudness will be
just about right.
-Ask questions: Don’t forget to ask questions! And spend enough time trying to address the ques-
tions.
-Bounce back questions: If somebody asks your opinion, ask them to first give their opinion. Or ask
others in the group what their opinion is. It is then better to summarize their opinions (you do not
seem to agree on this, some say X and some say Y) than to directly give yours. Try to give facts rather
than your opinion since your opinion might not be shared and could lead to some group members
losing interest. The tour is not about YOUR opinion, but it IS about trying to draw out THEIR opinions
and providing factual information that will get them to reflect further.
-Let the group describe the photos: In this manner you can motivate them to actively participate in
the tour.
-Give different people the opportunity to say something: Try to prevent the same person from tal-
king again and again.
-Stand next to and not in front of a photo: With all the excitement going on it might happen that
you end up standing in front of a photo, so that the group cannot see it. You should always stand
next to a photo and speak to the group facing them, much like you see people show a weather map.
-Let people read: If you feel it will help focus the group, you can have different people read the texts
on the panels, also the sentences underneath the photos. This is not ideal, but will give you a short
break and enable the group to hear somebody else speaking for a change. Here you should be sen-
sitive as far as non-fluent readers are concerned.
Difficult situations
Most tours are non-eventful. People tend to want to please the guide. But once in a while, a difficult
situation might arise. In general, try to discuss these situations with other guides and the organisers,
etchers, etc. Some of them will have had to deal with similar situations.
It can be useful to anticipate how to deal with some of these difficult situations. What may seem
difficult for one person may be very easy for another. The first step is to think about what made you
feel uneasy. The second is to discuss this with others and find strategies for the future.
In the past, the following situations have been difficult to handle from time to time:
- The group is and stays bored, quiet and doesn’t respond to the guided tour at all
- The group is restless, unfocused and distracted, doesn’t listen
- Somebody continues disturbing the tour with comments or through disruptive behavior
- Somebody asks very difficult questions that are either meant to challenge the guide or ridicule
what is stated in the exhibition
- Somebody tries to provoke other people in the group using inappropriate comments
- The students have a hard time understanding even the easiest explanations
- The teacher continues to interfere when you are giving your tour
- Factors like noise, extreme heat or cold, or other people disturb the tour
- There are too many people in the group or in the exhibition
12
Build up your own “repertoire”
Since every “difficult situation” is different, there is no standard solution to these situations. It might
be helpful, however, to have some general guidelines. The following suggestions aim to help you
cope with those rare moments when groups are difficult. They will help you develop your own stra-
tegies. After all, the most important thing for a successful tour is that you feel comfortable.
How do I cope with “trouble makers”?

Loud, restless students can influence the rest of the group and the tour enormously. Often, it is pos-
sible to influence them in a positive way, while at the same time making sure that there’s less focus
on them than on the (well-behaved) rest of the group. Different strategies can work.
On the whole, remember that somebody else is responsible for the group (usually the teacher).
Make sure that this person is in the vicinity before you intervene (not off drinking coffee). This is also
important because a tour is most effective if a teacher takes discussions and questions back to the
classroom.
When difficult situations occur, make eye contact with the person in charge and pause briefly. Often
the teacher will intervene to deal with the situation. If not, the following options remain open to you:
- Ignore the trouble makers: Do not respond to the person. This only works if the group also ignores
him/her. Once the atmosphere has started to be controlled by a person, ignoring him/her will be
counterproductive.
- Eye contact: Often, a clear stare does the job by communicating to them that they are misbehaving
- React: If the person makes an inappropriate comment, it is definitely good to ask the person to
explain his/her view in a more detailed why. Ask why he/she thinks that, etc. You have to be careful
that you don’t end up in a discussion while the rest of the group becomes bored.
- Involve the rest of the group: You can also ask others in the group what they think of the ‘trouble-
makers’ comments or what they think you should do. However this is only a good solution when you
have the feeling that the group is generally on your side and willing to cope with the problem.
- Find arguments: You take the inappropriate comments seriously and find good and clear argu-
ments of your own. But entering into a dialogue will only help if the ‘troublemaker’ is willing to learn
from you. That is often not the case.
- Directly address the problem: Speak to the person directly about his/her behavior. Tell the person
that you and the others are disturbed by it. And that they are also ruining the tour for the others. This
can be a very effective strategy in many cases.
- Show feelings: Be honest and mention that the behavior really bothers you and that you are doing
the tour voluntarily. Ask the person to treat you and the others with respect. If nothing helps you
might want to say that you are close to ending the tour since continuing makes no more sense. Stay
calm and friendly throughout by the way – that way you keep the moral upper hand!
- Further measures: If you don’t see your way out of the situation at all you can also decide to warn
the person or even send him/her away and thus exclude the person from the group. This is the least
ideal situation, also because many ‘troublemakers’ want exactly this.
Addressing tough questions

Very few guides are historians or history students. This is also not necessary to be an effective guide.
One key issue is not to pretend you know the answer if you do not. If you do not know the answer to a
tough question, mention that this is a good question, that you do not know the answer and that you
will try to find out. This does not make you seem stupid, it makes you seem honest. Another option
is to pass questions on to the group, asking them what they think. This is a good option in general.
The advantage is that you can “capture” the group’s attention again and motivate them take part in
the discussion.
13
When the group is very quiet
There are a number of reasons why a group might be quiet. Reasons include:
Possible reasons for the quietness:

- The group is tired, and has already had a busy day. You can suggest taking a break or watching a
video first. If students have a note pad, you can take a short break and ask students to write down
one question. Then have them read a question or two.
- The group did not want to go to the exhibition but they were forced to go by the teacher - this is
not much of a motivator for the start of the tour.
- The group is in the middle of a “very cool” phase and is trying to irritate you.
- The group knows everything and is bored. You can often find out at the beginning by asking what
they already know, what they have covered in school
- The group knows too little and doesn’t understand what you’re saying. Again you can find out how
much they already know at the start of the tour and begin with definitions like “Jew” or “hiding”. You
can also ask them to raise their hand if they do not understand a certain word you are using.
- You might also want to have a look at “Working with younger students” (see above).
When a teacher keeps interfering

Many teachers, especially those with extensive knowledge of history, are probably able to add so-
mething to your tour. Sometimes this may not be a problem, but if it occurs throughout the tour
you might feel disturbed and irritated. When you have the feeling that the group is on your side and
has already started to roll their eyes when the teacher makes a comment, you can politely ask the
teacher to leave the guidance to you. After all, it’s your task. Part of the problem can be resolved by
talking to the teacher before the tour and explaining your role.
When a teacher answers all your questions enthusiastically and does not give the students an op-
portunity to speak, you can try to address students directly. A short break in which you speak to the
teacher alone about this can also be very helpful. You can tell the teacher that the active participa-
tion of the students is a unique feature of the whole program. Teachers should understand at the
outset that you are the guide so it shouldn’t surprise them.
Some tour guides prefer doing the touring without teachers being present because it is less intimi-
dating for them and also sometimes for the students. But that has disadvantages as well since the
teacher cannot intervene if there are problems and the teacher is less able to take any questions or
discussions back to the classroom for further discussion. If the teacher is too intrusive and the strate-
gies above do not work, you can ask the teacher to take over the tour him-/herself. They usually will
not do this but it makes it clear to the teacher that she/he is not cooperating.
The diary’s authenticity

There are still people who deny that the Holocaust happened. Mostly, these people are anti-semitic
(see glossary of terms).
One of the questions that comes up once in a great while is whether Anne Frank’s diary is real. Since
Anne Frank has become an important symbol of the Holocaust, especially far right wing activists
see the book as an obstacle to their agenda of hate. Her description of the persecution of Jews and
the fact that she died in a concentration camp helps prevent National Socialism from rehabilitating
itself. The original diary, with all the attached and loose sheets, is now kept in a safe in Amsterdam.
The Dutch Governmental Institute for War Documentation (www.niod.nl) conducted a very detailed
investigation of the handwriting, the ink and the paper in 1986 and stated conclusively that the
entire diary text was written by Anne Frank between 1942 and 1944. As a tour guide it is good to
have the following arguments and answers ready so that you can address any questions like this. All
14
the minute details of this investigation can be found in the scientific version of “The Diaries of Anne
Frank” at The Dutch Governmental Institute for War Documentation (Den Haag, 2001), as well as on
the Anne Frank House website (www.annefrank.org).
- There are different versions of the diary: This is true. Anne started to edit her diary entries herself in
May 1944, since she wanted to publish her writings after the war. Hence, there is a second version of
the diary. Additionally, the diary was translated into many languages, but all this doesn’t change the
fact that the diary is real.
- The diary text was written by several authors and is a phony: This is False. This rumor has no basis
at all.
- Her father, Otto Frank, changed the text: This is False. Otto Frank left out certain passages when
the book was first published since he found them to be too personal. The passages he had removed
from the published version were mainly about the parents’ marriage and Anne’s body and sexuality.
Also, he felt that some passages were insulting to people still alive at the time (Anne had a sharp
tongue). Gradually, the book was completed and in 2002 the complete version was published for
the first time.
- Supposedly, there are ballpoint marks in the original version, and ballpoints were only invented
after the war: This is True. There are 26 small corrections that were placed on the manuscript by care-
less scientists. This does not affect the authenticity of the real diary.
Film“The Short Life” and other support materials

In some ocasions you will be able to show the educational dvd “The Short Life of Anne Frank” (28
minutes). It is good to know this film beforehand. Do remember that films are still a rather passive
way of learning, so you might want to ask questions afterwards. Examples of questions are:
- Did anything surprise you in the film?
- Did you learn something new? What?
- Was there something you didn’t understand?
- Free2choose: (about 4 minutes per video clip, 50 minutes in total) These are short films about hu-
man rights and where they might conflict with each other. The films focus on so-called freedom
rights: freedom of speech, freedom to demonstrate, freedom of religion, freedom of the press and
right to privacy. Free2choose aims to encourage people to think critically about the importance of
these basic human rights. Are those rights unlimited? What happens when basic rights collide with
each other? Or when democracy is threatened? Viewers are asked to give their opinion about a spe-
cific dilemma (for instance, should Hitler’s autobiography Mein Kampf be banned ?). After the exhibi-
tion you can watch and discuss some of these clips with the group, with or without the guidance of
a teacher. There’s also a special manual for the Free2choose film clips that explain how the clips can
best be discussed. Many of the clips are also on youtube (by searching for Free2choose or F2C and
then typing in the name of a country such as ‘Turkey’) and they are ideal (in combination with the
manual) for classroom follow-up.
15
3.The exhibition
In this chapter some key photographs in the exhibition will be discussed. You will find information
on the most important aspects of these photos so that you might feel more confident in your tour.
You might choose other photos of course, but the ones we highlight here are often used by guides
we have discovered.
16
Anne Frank
Opening panel
Catalogue: page 40
Anne at the Montessori School

1941
Background information
This school photo of Anne Frank was taken in 1941. On June 12th 1942
(her thirteenth birthday) she receives a diary. For about two years, she
writes in the diary on a regular basis. The introductory panel provides a
good opportunity to introduce Anne Frank and to discuss the image that
people have when they hear her name.
Anne’s diary is by far the most well-known document that relates to the
Holocaust and details her feelings and emotions as she watches what is
happening around her. Through the quotes you can see that the diary has
a different meaning for different people. It has been published in 60 lan-
guages and more than 50 million copies have been sold worldwide.
Possible questions and issues

-Why do you think the Diary of Anne Frank is the best known
document related to the Holocaust?
-What does Anne Frank mean to you?
17
Anne’s birth
Panel 2
Catalogue: page 9
Otto Frank was a German army officer during the First World War. Otto
Frank and Edith Holländer were married on May 12th 1925, Otto’s bir-
thday. The marriage took place in the Aachen synagogue. Nine months
later, on February 16th 1926, their first daughter, Margot Betty, was born.
On June 12th 1929, Anne(lies) Marie followed.
Otto Frank perceived himself as being German. The Franks were very libe-
Anne’s father (on the left) and her uncle
ral Jews, and their relatives had lived in Germany for centuries. Edith went
Robert as German officers during the
to the synagogue regularly, while Otto did not think this was important. First World War
For him, his German identity was much more important than his Jewish
identity. He had no problems being both German and Jewish, like many
other German Jews at the time.

-Anne wrote her diary in Dutch, but what was her mother tongue?
-Can you think of reasons why Otto would have fought in the German
army?
-Edith went to the synagogue. Do you know the names of other places of
worship for other religions?
-The Frank family was both German and Jewish. Do you know other The wedding of Anne’s parents
examples of people with a mixed identity? 12th of May 1925
18
Crisis in Germany
Panel 3
Catalogue: page 11
A demonstration against the Treaty of

Versailles in front of the Reichstag in
Berlin
Berlin, 1923
Money had become worthless because of the economic crisis. In 1923,

inflation was at its worst. The government had printed more money to
pay employees their salaries. Because of this, German money lost all of its
value.
Economic Crisis. Children playing with

worthless money.
19
Hitler’s rise to power
Panel 5
Catalogue: page 12
NSDAP Advertising campaign

1932
People looking at an NSDAP poster with the text: “Hitler: Our last hope”,
which was the NSDAP’s slogan in 1932.
The first NSDAP party (Nazis) congress took place in 1923 in Munich. The
second congress was banned and reorganized in Weimar. Later, Nurem-
berg became the main place for Nazi congresses. The NSDAP tried to turn
the nation’s desperate state of affairs (a consequence of poverty, unem-
ployment and the 1929 world economic crisis) into a mandate for power
and declared that the Jews were the cause of all these problems. Parties
with radical solutions received more and more support, while the belief
in democratic solutions diminished. Polarization in society grew. After the
First World War many political parties had created paramilitary groups
because of the unsteady political situation. The SA (storm troops) was the
paramilitary force affiliated with the Nazis.
Strong radical opinions on different sides led to street fights and violence.
During national elections in July 1932, the NSDAP received 37 percent of

all votes and therefore became the largest party in Germany. On January
30th, 1933 Hitler became chancellor, and the NSDAP immediately started
to take control of all power. On July 14th, 1933, the NSDAP became the
only legal political party in Germany – all other political parties were ban-
ned. Democracy was no more.

-Why was Hitler’s party so successful in 1932?
-Did all Germans support Hitler at this time?
-Hitler was a dictator. But did he seize power?
-In the 20s and 30s, Jews were deemed responsible for everything wrong
in society. This is called ‘scapegoating’. Do you know examples of groups
that are now blamed for things when they go wrong? What is the best way
to prevent such scapegoating in your view?
20
Panel 5
Catalogue: page 13
Hannover - the unemployed standing

Background information in line
This photo can be used to compare today with the 1930s. We see an enor-
mously long queue in front of the Employment office in Hannover. Also
have a look at the wall in the background: It says “Vote for Hitler” with
a swastika next to it. This shows one of the ways people expressed their
support for the NSDAP.
Hitler promised Germans several things:

- Work for all, including in the weapons industry and in construction
- Increased wealth for all
- Restoration of Germany’s honor after its losses during First World War
- To put the Jews in their place and remove their influence from society

-What can you say about the people in this photo? Can you tell how they
are feeling?
-Why are the people standing in line?
-What does the slogan on the wall say?
-Do people seem surprised or upset by the slogan?
-Do you think slogans like this are effective?
21
Boycott
Panel 6
Catalogue: page 19
Germany, April 1st 1933
On this photo you can see how the general boycott against Jewish
lawyers, doctors, shops and warehouses started on April 1st 1933. On the
poster it says “Germans, resist! Don’t buy anything from Jews!” On this day,
the Nazis prevented access to any Jewish shop. Shops were often marked
with the Star of David and anti-Jewish slogans were written on the shop
windows.
The Frank family had probably already decided to emigrate around this
time, since they had been living with Edith’s mother in Aachen since
March.

-Why was there a boycott? What was its goal?
-What do you think the men in uniforms are thinking?
-What does the poster tell us about who is defined as being
German?
-How do you think the woman on the left of the photo feels?
-How would you react if you were her?
22
The new power
Panel 7
Catalogue: page 17
Berlin, Brandenburger Tor
This photo provides an opportunity to talk about Hitler’s path to absolute May 10th 1933
power and the major role that propaganda played in this process.
When the NSDAP became the largest party in the Reichstag in January
1933, Hitler was able to create his own government. On January 30th, he
became chancellor, which was the highest political post in Germany. The
Nazis celebrated this with a huge celebration in Berlin. On the photo you
can see what this looked like. But the photo was actually not taken on
January 30th: A few months after this date, the Nazis repeated the cele-
bration so they could make a propaganda film out of it. The Nazis were
very skilled at using propaganda and the new media for the time such as
film and radio.
Otto Frank around January 30th 1933:

“On January 30th we were invited to our friends’ house. We were sitting
at a table, listening to the radio. Then there was the news that Hitler had
become chancellor and we could hear screams and cheers in the back-
ground. Then Hitler said “Just give me four years...” and our friends replied
“Let’s see what he’s really capable of doing.”. I didn’t know what to say any-
more and my wife was so shocked she could not move.”

-Why was this celebration repeated for the film?
-What is the purpose of propaganda? Why is it so effective?
-Do you know any other examples of Nazi propaganda?
-How does propaganda differ from education?
-Do you know of any propaganda that is used today?
-Neo-Nazi marches still take place in some countries? Do you think they
should be allowed? Why or why not?
23
The new power
Panel 7
Catalogue: page 19
Berlin
May 10th 1933
Book burning
On May 10th 1933 there was a large book burning event that took place
on the square in front of the Berlin opera. Works by Heinrich and Thomas
Mann, Erich Kästner, Stefan Zweif, Heinrich Heine, Karl Marx, Alfred Kerr,
Kurt Tucholsky and many more were burned.
The book burnings, which also took place in other cities, were a major part
of the Nazis’ four week program “against the un-German mind”. National
Socialist students compiled lists of book titles of undesired authors. Those
lists were disseminated at Universities and colleges. The book burning si-
gnaled the beginning of the persecution of all authors who didn’t comply
with the National Socialist point of view. The books deemed ‘un-German’
were removed from (public) libraries. In National Socialist language, this
process was called “cleansing”.

-Why would people want to burn books?
-Why would people want to make the distinction between ‘German’ and
‘un-German’
-What do books mean to you?
«Wherever books are burned, men also, in the end, are burned.» - Heinrich
Heine (1823)
-What could this German author have meant by this?

-Should modern authors and journalists be able to write anything they
want? Can you think of reasons why certain writings should be banned?
-Do you think people should be able to buy ‘Mein Kampf’, Hitler’s autobio-
graphy?
24
To the Netherlands
Panel 8
Catalogue: page 22
Background information Anne at the Montessori-school

1935
On this photo, you can see how well
The Frank family emigrated to the Netherlands and Otto Frank started to
Jews were integrated into Dutch society
work as the director of the Opekta company (which produced jams). The
family moved into an apartment at the Merwedeplein, where they lived
from 1933 until July 1942.
The house has recently been refurbished and partly decorated in the style
of the 30s. This apartment is now a place where foreign authors can live
and work freely, and where this is not possible in their home country.

- Can you think of times when freedom of speech needs to be limited?
- Can you think of key freedoms that should be inalienable?
- Why would authors not be allowed to work freely in their home country?
- How important is freedom of speech to you? Otto Frank and his secretary Miep Gies
(born Santrouschitz)
25
Youth
Panel 9
Catalogue: page 25
The Hitler Youth was founded by the NSDAP in1926 as a youth organiza-
tion and became increasingly important from 1933 onwards. Other youth
organizations were either shut down, banned or “voluntarily” folded into
the Hitler Youth. The Hitler Youth was responsible for all education out-
side the school and the home. If you were young, all your free time was
controlled and you were bombarded with Nazi propaganda. “All children aged 10: Participate in the
Hitler Youth”
Sub-organizations of the Hitler Youth were:
-Young German people (for boys aged 10 to 14)
-Hitler Youth (for boys aged 14 to 18, the name was also used for the orga-
nization as a whole)
-Young Girls United (for girls aged 10 to 14)
-League of German Girls (for girls aged 14 to 18)
A law was passed in 1939 that required boys and girls aged 10 to 18 to take
part in the Hitler Youth. Non-participation could be punished. In 1939, the
Hitler Youth had almost 9 million members. Jewish children were not al-
lowed to join the Hitler Youth.
Until Hitler became chancellor, the Hitler Youth functioned more or less as
a youth division of the SA, taking part in demonstrations and street fights.
Later it organized sport festivals, pre-military preparation and excursions.
Boys were prepared to be soldiers, girls to be mothers (they were sup-
posed to give the German nation as many German children as possible).
Possible questions and answers

-What do you see in the photo?.
-What was it like for those who were not permitted to participate in the
Hitler Youth? And for those who didn’t want to?
-What kinds of advantages were associated with being a member of an
organization like the Hitler Youth?
-What are the negative and positive aspects of joining a club?
-Who decides for you what you do in your free time?
-What would you feel like if the government forced you to become a
member of a club?
26
Panel 9
Catalogue: page 25
Dortmund
1933
This celebration served propagandistic purposes. The Nazis used these
kinds of celebrations to demonstrate their power and strength and to
impress the German population. Look at the perspective of the photo:
Hitler seems to be quite tall, in reality however, he was quite short.

-What were the Nazis trying to accomplish by publishing photos like this?
-What would the average German Jew feel when seeing a photo like this?
What about the average non-Jewish German?
27
Racial laws
Panel 11
Catalogue: page 27
Children being studied for

“racial characteristics”
Hitler had two main goals: To create a superior “racially clean and pure”
German people and to create one large and unified German nation. The
“Nuremberg Race Laws” were passed in September 15th 1935. The Nurem-
berg Race Laws deprived German Jews of their rights of citizenship. The
laws also banned Jews from marrying or have sexual relations with Aryans
or to employ young Aryan women as household help. In the 1930s, almost
everybody believed in the existence of distinct human races. The Nazis
claimed that there was a race hierarchy; that one race was better than the
others. According to them, the Jewish race was the lowest human race
and therefore had to be destroyed.
Due to modern science, we now know that there is no such thing as sepa-
rate human races. People might have different hair, eye and skin color, as
they have different facial characteristics, but there is only one human race.

-Why would the government want to decide who you could marry?
-What does the word “discrimination” mean?
-Does racism still exist today? What is the best way to combat racism in Children from the St. Joseph
your view? Children’s Home, 1944
28
Violence and escape
Panel 13
Catalogue: pages 30-31
Looking at a destroyed shop in Berlin
The so-called “November pogrom night” or “Night of Broken Glass” was a
during the early morning.
mixture of humiliation & insult and persecution, as well as physical danger Berlin, November 10th 1938
and even death for many German Jews.
The Nazis organized a mass attack on the Jewish communities of Ger-

many. Almost 30,000 Jews were arrested and deported to concentration
camps in the nights of November 9-10, 1938. Synagogues throughout
Germany were burnt to the ground, numerous Jewish apartments and
shops were destroyed and more than 200 German Jews were killed. The
SA and members of the NSDAP were joined by civilians who also took part
in the attacks. Many German Jews decided to leave Germany after this
night because they no longer felt safe and feared for their lives. The name
“Night of Broken Glass” comes from events in Berlin, where the streets
were entirely covered with glass from the broken windows. Many prefer
the name “November pogrom night”, since “pogrom” describes violence
against national, religious or ethnic groups.

-How do you think the media responded to the attacks on German Jews?
Use Google to read what was in your country’s major newspapers the days
after the November pogrom.
-What choices did Jews have after the November pogrom? Why were Burning synagogue during “Night of
these difficult choices? Broken Glass”.
-What prevents pogroms from happening in your country today ? Frankfurt, November 10th 1938
29
Violence and escape
Panel 13
Catalogue: page 30
Many Jews wanted to leave the country after the November pogrom, but
Children on board the “SS St. Louis”
only very few countries were willing to let refugees enter their country. June 17th 1939
Two of Anne’s uncles were fortunate and managed to flee to the United
States. Anne’s grandmother moved in with the Frank family in Amsterdam.
Most countries were of the opinion that they had already accepted
enough Jews. Therefore, the remaining Jews in Germany were trapped.
The story of the SS St.Louis highlights this in an especially sad way. With
900 refugees on board, the ship left Hamburg harbor on May 13th 1939.
It arrived in Havana (Cuba) on May 27th 1939, but the large majority of
passengers weren’t allowed to enter Cuba and the ship was forced to
continue its journey on June 2nd. The USA was put under a lot of pres-
sure to at least let those passengers with a visa come to the USA. On June
3rd, the US Congress rejected this proposition. The following day, the SS
St.Louis steamed northward along the coast of Florida to the North and
then back again. On June 6th , it went from Miami to Havana and was then
forced to return to Germany. At the time, various meetings took place to
decide which countries would still accept some refugees. Belgium, Great
Britain, France and the Netherlands were prepared to take some of them.
On June 17th, the ship arrived in Antwerp (Belgium). Some of the refu-
gees were brought to reception camps, where they remained until the
war broke out. Many died in the Nazi concentration camps.

-Why do you think almost all countries turned away German Jewish refu-
gees at the time?
-Are there any refugees in your country today? Where do they come from?
-What kinds of challenges do refugees face when fleeing to another
country?
30
The Netherlands
are occupied
Panel 14
Catalogue: page 39
The sudden occupation of Holland came as a major shock to the Dutch.
The country surrendered after German aircraft had bombed Rotterdam
and threatened to bomb Amsterdam and other major cities - the military
campaign lasted only five days.
This photo of the Westerkerk shows how Germany first presented itself German Nazis making their way
as a new occupying power. It was of great importance to the Nazis that through the Netherlands. In the back-
the Dutch population perceived them as a new and friendly authority. ground you can see the Westerkerk in
In contrast to the populations in Eastern European countries, the Nazis Amsterdam.
viewed the Dutch as allies and friends. This was one reason that after the Amsterdam, May 16th 1940
initial violence to defeat the country militarily, there was little violence
directed at the population. During the first year of occupation, however,
all Dutch Jews were registered. The Nazis did not only persecute Jews,
however. In their quest for global dominance and to restore the German
race to its ‘rightful place in the hierarchy of races’ they persecuted Jews but
also Roma and Sinti (Gypsies), Slavic people (anyone living in Central and
Eastern European Countries), disabled people, Jehovah Witnesses, Com-
munists, homosexuals, Blacks and all political enemies.
The Nazis soon required all Dutch citizens to fill in so-called “Aryan decla-
rations”, in which they had to state whether or not they had Jewish rela-
tives, and if yes, how many. Many Jewish officials were fired and all 140,000
Jews residing in the Netherlands were registered, among them the Frank
family. The registration of Jews was followed by isolation, deportation and
eventually death.

-Why did the German occupying forces want to be popular in the Nether-
lands and in Denmark, but not in Poland or (White) Russia?
-Why would the Nazis want to persecute not only Jews but other minori-
ties as well?
31
Jews lose their rights
Panel 16
Catalogue: page 40
The yellow star symbolized the isolation of the Jews. It made it clear to
everybody who was a Jew and who was not – so also who was seen as
undesirable and not. In her diary, Anne describes the laws the Nazis set up
for Jews. The plan against Jews consisted of three main stages: Registra-
tion, isolation and deportation/death. In December 1939, all Jews in the
occupied territories were forced to place a yellow star on all their clothes.
The star had to be visible at all times. This step was quickly followed by
more anti-Jewish measures.
Such laws made life increasingly difficult for the Frank family. From Sep-
tember 1941 onwards, Anne and Margot had to attend a school for Jewish
pupils only and Otto Frank appointed his colleague Johannes Kleiman as
the new director of Opteka. As a Jew, he was not longer permitted to own
a company. In the summer of 1941, Otto Frank started to turn the annex
attached to the company’s building into a hiding place. Yellow badge with the word “Jew” on it;
Jews had to wear it so that they could
be easily identified.
Possible questions and issues Approximately 1941
-Why weren’t anti-Jewish measures introduced all at once, but only step
by step?
-Why was it so important for the Nazis that Jews wore a yellow star?
-If your government decided that certain people needed to be identifiable
at all times, what arguments would you use against this?
32
February Strike in the
Netherlands
Panel 16
Catalogue: page 42
Background information Amsterdam

February 1941
The passing of anti-Jewish measures gave rise to resistance by some
among the Dutch population. In February 1941, 421 Jewish men were
arrested and brought to a concentration camp after they were caught
during a round up (razzia). This led to a two-day-long strike by the popu-
lation of Amsterdam’s. This was the first public confrontation between the
occupying army and the Dutch population. Trains and trams stopped run-
ning. More and more people gathered in the streets, shops were closed
and pupils stayed home from school. As the news of the strike spread,
other cities decided to join in as well; thousands of metal workers, ship
builders, factory workers, harbor workers and officials joined. At first, the
occupying force was unsure how to respond. On the second day, however,
the occupying force threatened to fire officials who continued to strike.
Army and police used violence in the streets. Nine people were killed and
many more injured.

- The strike lasted only two days. What would have happened if the strike
had continued?
- What other ways do you think people could have had to oppose the
occupying force?
33
Anti-Jewish Measures
Panel 17
Catalogue: page 40
“Wannsee protocol” - this Nazi docu-
The Nazis decided to systematically murder all European Jews. On January ment lists the number of Jews who
were destined to be deported, by
20th 1942, during the Wannsee conference, the plan to murder all Euro-
country.
pean Jews was discussed by the heads of the Nazi party. The actual deci-
Wannsee Conference January
sion to put such a plan into action was most likely already made during 20th,1942, Berlin.
the first half of 1941. Starting in June 1941, mass executions had been
taking place in Eastern Europe. Special forces went about killing Jewish
(and sometimes other civilians) in the conquered regions.
In the Netherlands, the deportation of Jews started in the summer of

1942. Margot was among the first group that received a call-up. Some
Jews obeyed the orders, since disobedience meant severe penalties.
Additionally, many Jews believed that they were only being sent to work
in the camps. Others simply ignored the call-up and stayed at home. The
occupying forces, however, organized large round-ups (razzias) in which
they closed down whole streets from all possible sides and arrested any
Jewish person they could find. In order to go into hiding, Jews needed
the assistance of non-Jewish people. These people were taking risk by
helping. Help from non-Jews was hard to come by after the anti-Jewish
measures went into effect. Also, going into hiding cost a lot of money. For
most, even if they wanted to, helping Jews was just too risky. Many Jews
also did not want to endanger others.

-What do you think is going through these people’s minds?
-What are the children most likely carrying in their luggage?
-What do you think these children will miss the most as they board the
trains?
-What would you take with you if you had to leave your home forever and
you had one suitcase?
34
The Call-up
Panel 19
Catalogue: page 45
The Call-up document
On July 5th, 1942 Margot Frank received a call-up (summons) to register Amsterdam, 5th of July 1942
for one of the work camps in Germany. Since the Frank family realized how
dangerous it was to ignore such a call-up, they immediately decided to go
into hiding.

-Why were people summoned to “work” and why were the real plans of
the Nazis not revealed?
-Margot was only 16 years old when she received this call-up. What do you
think was going through her mind when it arrived in the mail?
35
Miep Gies
Panel 19
Catalogue: page 48
One of the helpers was Miep Gies. She is especially known today for being
the person who rescued Anne Frank’s diary. She often stated that it was
only natural for her to help Otto Frank and his family go into hiding, des-
pite the risks. Together with Bep Voskuijl , she was responsible for deli- Miep Gies
vering daily necessities to the family. She also went to the library every Approximately 1940
Saturday to get new books for those in hiding. Time did not pass quickly
in the Secret Annex - especially since everybody had to be quiet – and
books were very welcome. Miep’s husband, Jan Gies, was also involved in
helping the family. Without his many contacts it would have been impos-
sible to get ration cards for food.
Tips for tour guides: This complex and sometimes controversial topic of
helping people who have gone be into in hiding is a good opportunity
to talk about what people do nowadays when they witness unfairness,
oppression, human rights violations and violence. Miep is an excellent
example of someone who dared to help and to question the authorities,
while uncountable others remained silent.
Also resources to be considered:

-“Witnesses”(video): Miep Gies
-“My time with Anne Frank”(book) by Miep Gies
-The Anne Frank Webguide: www.annefrankguide.com

-What impresses you the most about what Miep did? What risks did she
take?
-Do you think that people like Miep Gies are heroes?
-Why were most non-Jews not prepared to help Jews?
-What possibilities do you have when you witness violence or oppression?
-Have you ever needed the help of others?
36
The secret annex
Panel 20
Catalogue: page 52
The people in hiding
1. Otto Frank, born on May 12th , 1889 in Frankfurt, died on August 19th
1980 in Basel, Switzerland
2. Edith Frank (maiden name Holländer), born on January 16th 1900 in

Aachen, died on January 6th 1945 in Auschwitz Death Camp from exhaus-
tion and malnutrition.
3. Margot Betty Frank, born on March 16th 1926 in Frankfurt, died in

March 1945 in Bergen-Belsen from typhus.
4. Anne(lies) Marie Frank, born on June 12th 1929 in Frankfurt, died in

March 1945 in Bergen-Belsen from typhus.
5. Hermann van Pels, born on March 31st 1898 in Gehrde, murdered in

October or November 1944 in Auschwitz. In her diary, Anne calls him “Herr
van Daan”. Hermann van Pels was one of Otto Frank’s working colleagues.
6. Auguste van Pels, born on September 29th 1900 in Buer, died in April
or May 1945 in Theresienstadt. In Anne’s diary she is called “Frau van Daan”.
7. Peter van Pels, born on November 8th 1926 in Osnabrück, died on May
5th 1945 in Mauthausen. In Anne’s diary he is called “Peter van Daan”.
8. Fritz Pfeffer, born on April 30th 1889 in Gießen, died on December 20th
1944 in Neuengamme due to illness. In her diary, Anne calls him “Albert
Dussel
37
The secret annex
Panel 20
Catalogue: page 52
The helpers
1. Miep Gies, she is one of Otto Frank’s co-workers and, together with Bep,
is responsible for the delivery of food, books and news from the outside.
2. Victor Kugler. He gets money to the people in hiding and feels res-
ponsible for their security. In Anne’s diary he’s called “Mr Kraler”.
3. Johannes Kleimann, he gives the people in hiding general support and
manages the company “Opekta” for Otto. He is called “Mr Koophuis” by
Anne.
4. Bep Voskuil, just like Miep she works in the office of the company. Her
father works in the warehouse of the company and is the only worker who
knows about the Secret Annex. He built the special book case that func-
tions as a door.
Here you can see the portraits of all eight people who had to go into hi-
ding. In addition to the Frank family, four other people were hiding in the
Secret Annex. The Van Pels family joined the Frank family one week after
they had moved in. The eighth person, Fritz Pfeffer, followed on Novem-
ber 16th.
The building belonging to Otto Frank’s company at Prinsengracht 263

consists of two parts: The normal front-building as well as an annex, a pro-
per house that is only accessible through the front-building. This annex
was unoccupied until Otto Frank decided to transform it into a hiding
place. The only entry to the annex was then made invisible by means of a
specially built book case that functioned as a door, thus turning it into a
secret annex.
On July 6th 1942 the Frank family moved into the Secret Annex, bringing
only a few of their things. They stayed there for about two years. The hel-
pers made sure they always had enough to eat, wear and read. Through
very small gaps between the windows and the black curtains, the people
living in the Secret Annex could look outside. This had such a huge impact
on Anne that she wrote about it in her diary.

-What do you think the most frightening things were about going into
hiding?
-Do you also keep a diary? If so, what do you write about in your diary?
38
Everyday life in
the Secret Annex
Panel 21-24
Catalogue: page 53-58
The book case that concealed the

entrance to the secret annex.
During the day it was important to be as quiet as possible, which meant
that from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m. it was absolutely forbidden to flush the toilet
or to leave the top floor, since that was the time when workers were in the
warehouse. Actually, none of those in hiding were planning on staying for
two years but their hopes for a swift end to the war were destroyed time
and time again.
It was hard for the eight people in hiding to always be together without a
break. Nobody could ever be alone in a room - which led to many verbal
fights. Above all, Anne had to share a room with Fritz Pfeffer and they did
not get along. Both of them wanted to use the table in the room they were
sharing and this was impossible.
The diary reveals how Anne developed during those two years in hiding.
In the beginning she was very focused on school and her friends. Later,
she became very self-confident and reflective, and wrote a lot more about
her future, her hopes, her fears and herself. Her dream was to become a
writer.

-What do you think daily life was like in the Secret Annex?
-What kinds of feelings and thoughts did Anne have?
-What did Anne miss most of all?
-How did she try to get along with the others?
-What would irritate you the most about sharing one space for 24 hours a
day with seven others, without a break?
39
Arrest
Panel 25
Catalogue: page 58
Arrest
August 1st 1944 was the last time that Anne Frank wrote in her diary. On
August 4th, Karl Silberbauer, working for the security forces, together with
three Dutch policemen, came to the Opekta offices. He walked directly to
the bookcase and forced Victor Kugler to open it. Silberbauer then told
everybody in the Secret Annex to come downstairs with their hands in the Karl Silberbauer
air. The following days, Miep Gies tried, without success, to convince the
police to let the inhabitants of the Secret Annex go free. One week later,
everything was removed from the Secret Annex and brought to Germany,
where all the furniture and other property found in the hiding place was
sold.
Betrayal
Somebody must have given the police detailed information. Until now,
millions of readers have asked the question: who betrayed the people in
hiding? There is still no answer, but there are several theories: A worker in
the warehouse, a cleaning lady, a neighbor or a burglar? All are still pos-
sible.

- How important is it to find out, now that more than 60 years have passed,
who betrayed the Frank family?
-What reasons could Karl Silberbauer have had to be engaged in such
work?
-Why would anyone want to betray Jews?
40
Concentration camps
Panel 26-29
Catalogue: page 74-75
Hungarian Jews at the section

in Auschwitz
All eight people in hiding were brought to a jail in Amsterdam from where
they were sent to the transit camp Westerbork, which is in the Northeast
of the Netherlands. They were on the last transport from the Netherlands
to Auschwitz – which left on September 3rd 1944.
What happened after the arrest of the Frank family?

One day after the arrest, the eight people who had been in hiding were
brought to a jail on the Weteringschans in Amsterdam. On August 8 they
were brought to Westerbork, where they spent all of August. Together with
about 1000 people (in total 498 men, 442 women and 79 children) they
were then sent to Auschwitz. They endured a three-day long journey in an
overcrowded train. In the night of September 5 to 6, their train arrived at
Auschwitz Death Camp. About half of these 1000 people were murdered
on this first day, among them all children under 15 years of age. Anne was
lucky since she had just turned 15. All eight of them were ordered to work
instead of going directly to the gas chambers. Anne and the rest of the
women were then transported to the women’s camp in Birkenau, where
they stayed for almost two months. The conditions were inhuman; mal-
nutrition, extreme violence and disease became a part of everyday life.
Edith Frank tried her best to protect her daughters and stay with them
but they were soon transported to the next and final concentration camp:
Bergen-Belsen, where they found even worse conditions than at Birkenau
since this camp was also overcrowded. Edith Frank died on January 6th
1945 in Auschwitz-Birkenau, her daughters became infected with typhus
causing the death of both of them. Margot died in March 1945 and Anne
died a few days after that. Only a few weeks later, the camp was liberated
by British soldiers.
The Dutch Red Cross stated that only 45 men and 82 women out of the
1000 who were in the train with the Frank family survived the war.
41
Otto Frank
Panel 30
Catalogue: page 76, 88
Otto Frank
Otto Frank survived the Auschwitz-Birkenau camp in the sick barracks. Otto Frank showing the tattooed num-
Due to his poor physical condition he was not evacuated to another camp, ber on his lower arm, a sign that he had
which led to him being rescued. On January 27, 1945 the Soviet Army been in Auschwitz.
reached the camp and liberated it. The SS had decided to leave all the ill
people behind so that no witnesses of the genocide would survive. This is
also the reason why most prisoners were deported to other camps or for-
ced to take part in so called death marches. Before the Red Army arrived
in Auschwitz, the SS tried to blow up the entire Auschwitz-Birkenau Death
Camp but there was not enough time. Auschwitz-Birkenau was a death
camp, which means that the Nazis organised mass killings. The gas cham-
bers were added to “their program” in September 1941. More trhan one
million Jews were executed in this camp alone. The exact number cannot
be known since anybody who was gassed immediately after his or her
arrival was never registered.
Otto Frank survived in the Auschwitz-Birkenau sick barracks, Edith Frank

died in January of 1945 in the women’s camp there. Hermann van Pels
was gassed shortly after his arrival in Auschwitz, Peter van Pels survived
the death march but died in Mauthausen, only three days before the li-
beration. Auguste van Pels was brought to Bergen-Belsen together with
Anne and Margot and then continued on to Buchenwald and then to The-
resienstadt, where she died in the spring of 1945. Fritz Pfeffer arrived at
Auschwitz and was then brought to Neuengamme (near Hamburg) where
he died on December 20th,1944 in the sick barracks.

-Why did Otto Frank say “I have lost everything, not just my family.”?
- What do you think is meant by the following statement: “Six million
Jews were not killed. One Jew was killed six million times.” (Abel Herzberg,
Dutch historian)
42
Anne Frank’s diary
Panel 31
Catalogue: page 81
The war is over. Those Jews who survived the war had to face the further
trauma of finding out that most of their relatives and loved ones had
perished. Some Nazis were brought to justice in special trials, such as at
Nuremberg, where the surviving Nazi leaders were tried. Otto Frank was
the only person out of the eight people in hiding who survived the war.
On March 5th 1945 he began to travel back to Amsterdam. He arrived on
June 3rd. Knowing that his wife was dead, he still had hope that Anne and
Margot would be alive. After two months, a witness told him that Anne
and Margot had died at Bergen-Belsen. Hearing this, Miep Gies decided to “The secret annex”
give Otto Frank his daughter’s diary. After consulting some of his friends,
he then decided to find a publisher, only wanting to publish a “censored”
version of the diary which excluded passages about Edith Frank and about
Anne’s developing sexuality. At first, he had difficulty finding a publisher
but when he finally managed to find one, 1500 copies of the book were
printed. Just like many other victims, Otto Frank had a hard time speaking
about what he had endured in the camp. “I still can’t speak about many
things. And I still don’t want to speak about many things, like for example
the feelings I had when they came into the Secret Annex, or when my
family was torn apart at the platform in Auschwitz.” (Otto Frank in Welt am
Sonntag, February 4th 1979)
Since the first publication of the diary, more than 30 millions copies of
“Anne Frank’s Diary” have been sold.

-Liberation - what exactly does that mean? Does this mean something dif-
ferent for the Jews who had survived?
-Why were so many victims unable to speak about their experiences?
43
After the
Second World War
Panel 32
Catalogue: page 83
Demonstration by Swedish Neo-Nazis
This part of the exhibition aims to inform about people’s responses to dis-
crimination, racism and anti-Semitism before, during and after the Second
World War. In the photo you can see demonstrating Neo-Nazis. The photo
was taken in 1985, but could have been taken more recently. Try discus-
sing this photo with your group: What do you see in this photo? Why is it
a part of the exhibition? Is this the most appropriate response to the Neo-
Nazis? What risk is she taking? Whose rights are being violated? Doesn’t
the demonstrator have the right to freedom of speech?
At this point we have to ask ourselves: Do rights have limitations? Where

do we draw the line of what is acceptable and what not in a democracy?
When and where do we limit free speech? Who decides?
Helpers - perpetrators - courts

As was the case on panel 19 (p.38) the main theme of this section is moral
courage. Why are some people prepared to help others despite the risks
for themselves? What motivates them to do so?
On this panel we try to focus on people who chose to be on the other side,
those who were frightened and decided to side with the perpetrators and
eventually became perpetrators themselves. Major perpetrators, such as
those who stood trial at Nuremberg or those who have more recently
been tried for war crimes in The Hague have been held accountable for
their actions in international courts (mostly the UN). Why is this impor-
tant?
It is always an individual decision which role you will play: perpetrator,

bystander or helper, though these decisions are often difficult.

Photo “Neo-nazi Demonstration”
-When and how do we limit freedom of speech, if ever?
-What do Neo-Nazis believe in?
Issue “Helpers and civil courage”

-What does “moral courage” mean?
-What would it take for you to intervene if somebody’s rights were being
violated?
Issue “Perpetrators and trials”

-What is the function of a trial for perpetrators of war crimes?
-What is the UN aiming to do by setting up these special tribunals?
44
International Peace and
Safety
Panel 33
Catalogue: page 86
Eleanor Roosevelt and the

Universal Declaration of Human Rights
In 1948, three years after the end of the war, the United Nations (UN) was
founded. Its goal is to ensure international peace and safety, something
that is still unfortunately a lofty ideal. The newly formed United Nations
decided that certain basic human rights needed to be guaranteed for all
people on the planet. This led to the creation of the Universal Declaration
of Human Rights (UNDHR), signed into being on December 10, 1948. This
date is now officially Human Rights Day and is celebrated throughout the
world.
You can find a list of all the human rights in this Declaration at:
www.unhchr.ch/udhr/lang/eng.htm
In reality, however, even these very basic human rights are still not adhe-
red to in many places. It is not only the task of the governments to ensure
that human rights and peace are promoted and defended. We all, as world
citizens, have the responsibility to defend the rights of those who have
their rights denied, whether in a far away land or in our own community.

-Have you witnessed a demonstration by Neo-Nazis?
-What do you know about Neo-Nazis and their world view?
-What does “discrimination” mean? Try to find examples of it and consider
your own experience with discrimination as well.
Tips for tour guides

Talk to your group about current examples of human rights violations,
consider local, national as well as international issues. Take a copy of the
UNDHR with you on the tour.
45
Appendix Timeline
Year History of the Frank General history

family
1889 May 12: Otto Frank born in

Frankfurt
1900 January 16: Edith Holländer

born in Aachen
1925 May 12: Otto Frank and July 18: The first part of
Edith Holländer married in Adolf Hitler’s “Mein Kampf”
Aachen is published
1926 February 16: Margot Frank February 15: The number of

born in Frankfurt unemployed in Germany
reaches a new record,
increasing by another two
million
1929 June 12: Anne Frank born October 25: With the start of
in Frankfurt the great depression in New
York, a worldwide economic
crisis spreads
1933 March: The Frank family January 30: President Paul

moves in with Edith’s von Hindenburg appoints
mother in Aachen Adolf Hitler as German
chancellor and asks him to
form a government
February: 6,047,000
Germans are unemployed
March 23: Hitler’s enabling

law (that he uses to
establish the dictatorship) is
approved
September 15: Otto Frank

establishes the company
“Opekta” in Amsterdam
September: Edith moves to

the Netherlands as well,
Margot and Anne stay with
their grandmother
48
46
family
October 14: The German

government declares its
withdrawal from the
“League of Nations”, which
was founded in 1919 as a
guarantor of world peace
December: Margot moves

to the Netherlands
1934 February: Anne also moves January 30: One year after
to Amsterdam as a surprise having been appointed
for Margot’s birthday chancellor, Hitler becomes
the absolute leader in
Germany
July 16: The concentration

camp Buchenwald is built
Summer: The Aryanisation

of German society starts to
take hold; also involving the
German economy
1937 May: The Dutch

government decides to
close the borders for Jewish
refugees from Germany
1938 November 9/10: During The

Night of Broken Glass,
some 30,000 Jews are
taken to concentration
camps
1939 March 15: Hitler’s armed

forces (Wehrmacht) reach
Prague
April 28: Hitler declares the

withdrawal from the
German-British naval
agreement and the
German-Polish agreement
June 12: Anne celebrates Spring: Westerbork (later a

her tenth birthday with transit camp) is set up as
friends internment camp for
German Jewish refugees in
the Netherlands
49
47
family
September 3: German
troops invade Poland
unannounced; Britain and
France declare war on
Germany. This is the official
beginning of the Second
World War
1940 April 27: Heinrich Himmler,

head of the SS, arranges
for the construction of the
Auschwitz concentration
camp of. At first, mainly
Polish prisoners are brought
there
May 10: German troops

enter the Netherlands,
Belgium and Luxemburg.
1941 Summer: Otto Frank begins June 14: German troops

to develop the secret annex start to occupy Paris
into a hiding place at
Prinsengracht 263
June 22: German troops

enter the Soviet Union
unannounced
July 31: Hermann Göring

asks Reinhard Heydrich to
find a ‘final solution’ to the
‘Jewish problem’
October: Margot and Anne October 25: German troops

need to register at a Jewish encounter their first
Lyceum difficulties in fighting against
the Soviet Union in Moscow
December 11, Germany

and Italy declare war on the
United States
1942 January 20: Leading Nazis

hold the Wannsee-
conference in order to
agree on a “final solution”
for the systematic murder of
all European Jews
50
48
family
April 29: The “Yellow

badge”, required to be worn
by all Jews, is introduced in
the Netherlands
June 12: Anne receives a June 11: Adolf Eichmann

diary for her 13th birthday decides that the deportation
of Jews from Belgium,
France and the Netherlands
has to start within a few
weeks
July 5: Margot receives a

call-up to work in Germany
July 6: Otto, Edith, Margot July 14: The systematic

and Anne move their lives transport of Dutch Jews
to the Secret Annex at from Westerbork to
Prinsengracht 263 Auschwitz begins
July 13: Hermann, Auguste July 17: The first train from
and Peter van Pels arrive at Westerbork arrives at
the Secret Annex Auschwitz
November 16: Fritz Pfeffer

is the last person to arrive
at the secret annex
December 10: The Polish

government asks the allied
forces to end mass
executions at Auschwitz
1943 February 18: After the

German defeat at
Stalingrad, Joseph
Goebbels (Minister of
propaganda) calls for “total
war”
April: Concentration camp

Bergen-Belsen is set up
April 19: A rebellion among

Jews in the Warsaw ghetto
breaks out; it ends in the
mass murder of its
residents
51
49
family
1944 June 6: “D-Day” - The allied

forces arrive in Normandy
August 4: The eight people

in hiding are betrayed and
arrested
August 8: The eight people August 23: The allied forces

in hiding are taken from a liberate Paris
local jail to camp
Westerbork
September 3: They are September 4: The allied

taken by the last train to forces liberate Antwerp and
leave Westerbork to Brussels
Auschwitz
September 6: The Franks

and the others arrive at
Auschwitz-Birkenau
Hermann van Pels dies in October 6/7: A rebellion

an Auschwitz gas chamber takes place in Auschwitz.
at the beginning of October Before the Nazis are able to
stop them, prisoners
destroy one of the gas
chambers
October 28: In the face of

Soviet troop gains, Anne
and Margot Frank and
Auguste van Pels are
moved to the German
concentration camp
Bergen-Belsen
December 16: Hitler’s

troops start their last major
military campaign in the
Ardennes - without success
December 20: Fritz Pfeffer

dies in the Neuengamme
concentration camp
52
50
family
1945 January 17: The Red Army

approaches the heart of
Germany. The SS demand
that all prisoners be
removed from Auschwitz
concentration camp. Some
66,000 prisoners are forced
to participate in so-called
“death marches”. Those
who cannot keep up are
murdered.
January 27: Otto Frank is January 27: Auschwitz

liberated by the Red Army concentration camp is
in Auschwitz liberated. Later, this day is
declared Holocaust-
remembrance day in many
countries
February: Auguste van Pels February 13/14: The Allied

is brought from Bergen- Forces fire-bomb Dresden.
Belsen to Buchenwald and
then Theresienstadt, where
she dies in the spring of
1945
March: Anne and Margot April 15: Bergen-Belsen is

Frank die in Bergen-Belsen liberated by the British
May 5: Peter van Pels dies May 5: The Netherlands is

in Mauthausen liberated by American
concentration camp troops
May 8: Germans surrender

to the Allied Forces; This is
the official end of the
Second World War in
Europe
June 3: Otto Frank returns August 14: After atom

to Amsterdam, not knowing bombs are dropped on
the fate of his daughters Hiroshima and Nagasaki,
Japan accepts the
conditions for armistice set
Year History of the Frank by theGeneral history
Allied Forces. The
family Second World War is over
1947 Otto Frank publishes “The

Secret Annex” (his 53
daughter’s diary)
51
Appendix Glossary
Appendix Glossary
Glossary of terms
Adolf Hitler: Leader of the NSDAP (Nazi party of Germany). He was born in 1889 and committed suicide in 1945.
Allied Forces: Military forces that were fighting Germany, Italy and Japan, consisting (among others) of the United States,
Great Britain, France and the Soviet Union. These four powers took over Germany’s administration after its unconditional capitu-
lation in May 1945.
Anti-Semitism: hostility towards Jews as a group.
Aryan (Arisch): The term originated from a Sanskrit word, Arya, meaning a noble person. It took on a different meaning in
Nazi race ideology. Here it referred to the German nation, consisting of members of the Nordic race. Jews who had lived in Ger-
many for centuries, as well as Gypsies and Slavs, immediately became classified as inferior races.
Aryanization: National Socialist word for a gradual program that ensured that all Jewish property was eventually passed on
to non-Jewish, “Aryan” people.
Auschwitz-Birkenau: Largest and most notorious concentration and death camp, located in Southern Poland near Cra-
cow. Within five years, almost two million people were killed in this camp.
Concentration camp: Actual and suspected enemies of National Socialism were brought to special camps starting in
1933. Later, Jews, homosexuals, “Gypsies”, Slavic people and Prisoners of War were also sent to these camps. Conditions in these
camps were extreme and many prisoners died of exhaustion, malnutrition or execution.
Death march: A word invented by former concentration camp prisoners. Death marches refer to the forced marches over
long distances. While marching, prisoners were mistreated and abused. Those who failed to keep up were often murdered.
Degenerated Art (Entartete Kunst): Works of art classified as ‘degenerate’ by the Nazis were those of the modern,
abstract, cubist or expressionist schools; also those artistic expressions that did not fit Nazi philosophy. World-famous artists were
banned – for example Pablo Picasso, Otto Dix, Marc Chagall, Franz Marc, Paul Klee, Max Beckmann, Paula Modersohn-Becker,
George Grosz, and Kaethe Kollwitz. Degenerate Art was also the title of an exhibition (July 1937) which displayed works confisca-
ted from galleries and museums. Many of these artists had to flee Germany.
Death camp: Camps that were built for the purpose of killing people. The two largest camps were Auschwitz-Birkenau
and Lublin-Majdanek. Both also contained a concentration camp. Other examples of death camps were Treblinka, Sobibor and
Chelmno.
Death squads (Einsatzgruppen): Mobile units associated with the German Security Police. Their task was to carry out
‘special duties’ in the service of the Fuehrer. They terrorized, persecuted and murdered political opponents or those considered
racially inferior, such as Jews, Poles and Gypsies throughout Europe.
Enabling act (Ermächtigungsgesetz): A law passed on March 24, 1933 which enabled the National Socialists to
by-pass the Reichstag (the German Parliament) and thus assume ever-greater powers. To get this law through Parliament they
needed a two-thirds majority, which they did not have. Other parties were also needed to support passage. The final count was
441 votes for the new law, 94 against, while 81 Communists were unable to vote because they had been imprisoned.
Equalisation Programme (Gleichschaltung): Before the Nazis came to power Germany had been a democrati-
cally-run country. After 1933, they infiltrated every aspect of society and placed members of the NSDAP in all leadership positions
and gained total control.
Euthanasia Ordinance (Euthanasie Befehl) : Term given to a secret document signed by Hitler and dated Sep-
52
tember 1, 1939. This document gave authority to specialist doctors to provide the ‘incurably ill’ with a merciful death. The dubious
concept of ‘a merciful death’ masks the fact that it was the Nazis intention to murder the mentally and physically disabled in
society. More than 120,000 people were killed in this way.
Fascism: Initially, a political movement that started in 1917 in Italy. It was developed as a response to Italian communism. Fas-
cism is totalitarian, anti-liberal, anti-democratic and anti-parliamentary. It is characterized by extreme nationalism, expansionism,
authoritarian structures and it demands complete obedience and submission. National Socialism is one type of Fascism.
Final Solution (Endlösung): Known as ‘The Final Solution of the Jewish Question’, it meant the expulsion and ultimate
murder of all Jews in Europe.
Genocide: The deliberate and systematic destruction of a racial, ethnic, national, religious or cultural group
Gestapo: Abbreviation of GEheime STAatsPOlizei (Secret State Police). The Gestapo had unlimited powers between 1933 and
1945; they searched houses and arrested the occupants, sent them to concentrations camps, persecuted and tortured them. The
Gestapo was the brainchild of Hermann Göring.
Ghetto: Originally, an Italian word for a district where Jews were forced to live by law. Such districts already existed in the
MIddle Ages, but the word “ghetto” was “reactivated” by the Nazis. Ghettos were set up In many Eastern European cities in order to
separate, isolate and control the Jews. These Jewish districts, with their inhumane living conditions, were part of a more lengthy
process of sending European Jews to Nazi concentration and death camps.
Hitler Youth (Hitlerjugend): Abbreviated as HJ. The collective name given to Nazi youth groups and all their subdivi-
sions; founded in 1926 by the NSDAP, it became the official State youth organization after 1933. The Law Relating to the Hitler
Youth Movement (from December 1, 1936) decreed that all young people in the Third Reich should join the Hitler Youth.
Holocaust: This term comes from the Greek “holokauston” (“complete burning”). It describes the systematic murder of Jews
during the Second World War. Since the original meaning of the word was religious, many Jews prefer to use the word “Shoa”,
which is Hebrew for “extermination” or “harm”. Both words mean the same thing.
Ideology: A set of doctrines or beliefs that form the basis of a political, economic, or other system.
Killing Squads (Einsatzgruppen): Mobile divisions of the Security Police. Their task was to carry out special duties.
They terrorized, persecuted and murdered political opponents or those deemed ‘racially inferior’, such as Jews, Poles and Roma
and Sinti (Gypsies) throughout Europe.
Kristallnacht = (also referred to as the Night of Broken Glass): An anti-Jewish pogrom, organized by the
SA, Nazis and others, on the night of November 9, 1938. More than 20,000 Jews were arrested and deported to concentration
camps on orders given by propaganda minister, Josef Goebbels, and sanctioned by Adolf Hitler. Throughout Germany synago-
gues (Jewish places of worship) were set on fire and innumerable Jewish businesses and homes were ransacked and destroyed.
Labour Camp (Arbeitslager): Primitive accommodation in barracks to house slave laborers. First used at the beginning
of the Second World War in Germany and other Nazi-occupied territories. It was under the control of Heinrich Himmler, head of
the German police. The labor camps resembled concentration camps but had a different name for administrative reasons. There
were 20 concentration camps and 165 affiliated labor camps in April 1944.
League of German Girls (BDM - Bund Deutscher Mädel): Organization for girls aged 14 to 18, which was a part of the
Hitler Youth. The organization aimed to turn girls into strong and courageous, yet very traditional, young women. According to
Nazi ideology, girls were to be raised to become a mother and raise a family.
Living Space (Lebensraum): The Nazi policy of creating more geographical space for German citizens. This meant
annexing land from other countries and forcing non-Germans to be displaced.
Machtübernahme: January 30, 1933 Hitler became the Chancellor of Germany. Tthe Nazis called this day the ‘Machtüber-
nahme’ or ‘The Day of Transfer of Power to the NSDAP’. In later years, the term came to include the measures that the Nazis took
53
during the period 1932-1934 to ensure total control of all aspects of German society.
Mein Kampf: The title of Hitler’s book, meaning ‘My Struggle’, in two volumes. In this book, he discusses his ideology and
political views. Adolf Hitler became the leader of the NSDAP in 1921. When he became Chancellor of Germany on January 30, 1933
he insisted on being known only as the Führer (Leader).
National Socialism: Totalitarian political movement in Germany, led by Adolf Hitler. National socialists wanted one, powerful
leader and were opposed to democracy. National Socialism is based on extreme nationalist pride and a sense of racial superiority.
Nazi: Abbreviation of the word “National Socialist”.
Neo-nazis: people in today’s society who support the ideas and/or methods of the Nazi party in World War II.
NSDAP: The National Socialist German Worker’s Party (NSDAP), also referred to as the Nazis, was the only political party per-
mitted in Germany from July 1933 until the unconditional surrender by the Nazis in May 1945. Adolf Hitler was its leader. The Law
Relating to the Unity of Party and State (December 31 1933) decreed that the NSDAP was the conscience of the State and that it
was inextricably linked to the State, to ensure the racial well-being of the German people. Party members had to swear an oath of
unquestioning loyalty and obedience to their leader (the ‘Fuehrer’).
Nuremberg Trials (Neurenberger Prozess): These trials lasted from November 20, 1945 to October 1, 1946. The
International Military Tribunal (IMT) consisted of the victorious powers from the Second World War - Great Britain, France, USA and
the Soviet Union. Twenty-four leading Nazis were put on trial. The charges against them were:
1. Conspiracy
2. Crimes against peace
3. War Crimes
4. Crimes against humanity
(Of the 24 accused, 12 were condemned to death, 7 were imprisoned, 3 were acquitted and 2 were absent owing to illness and
suicide)
Nuremberg Laws: Two laws that were passed on September 15 1935 in Nuremberg. The first, was meant to ‘Protect German
Blood and German Honor’. It prohibited marriage or sexual relations between Jews and non-Jews. The laws classified people as
German if all four of their grandparents were of «German blood», while people were classified as Jews if they descended from three
or four Jewish grandparents. A person with one or two Jewish grandparents was a Mischling, of «mixed blood». The second law The
second law, The Reich Citizenship Law, stripped persons not considered of German blood of their German citizenship.
Partisan/s: Resistance fighters who used violence and sabotage to fight the occupying forces. Partisans were mostly civilians
without any military equipment or training. During the Second World War, partisans were mainly fighting against the Germans
occupying forces in Eastern Europe and the Balkans
People’s Court (Volksgerichtshof ): Established on April 24, 1934 to hear cases of High Treason. High Treason is ge-
nerally considered an attempt to overthrow the State or to spy for a foreign power. In this case, however, as the lawyer Parisius
remarked: “That is not the purpose of our People’s Court. Its function is to murder the opponents of National Socialism”.
Pogrom: A series of violent attacks against religious, national or racial minorities.
Propaganda: the organised promotion of certain ideas, facts or allegations that are meant to deliberately further a cause or
damage an opposing cause.
Protective Custody (Schutzhaft): The most commonly used method by the Nazis to remove political opponents and
other unwanted citizens from public life. The people were then imprisoned in concentration camps. After the Nazis came to power
in 1933, ‘unwanted’ citizens were incarcerated without due process of law, not knowing when they would be released.
Racism: An action that discriminates against people based on a person’s ethnicity or presumed race.
54
Reichssicherheitshauptamt, RSHA: Under the control of the SS, all public as well as secret Police and Security mea-
sures emanated from the RSHA. It had innumerable departments, offices, sub-sections, branches and was virtually incompre-
hensible to outsiders. The RSHA had the power to imprison people or deport them to a concentration camp without recourse to
law - the victims had no right of appeal.
Revisionism (of the history of the Holocaust): Politically motivated interpretation of National Socialist history,
often in pseudo-natural scientific form. Its goal is to present the crimes of Nazis as less severe than they actually were and to claim
that the numbers of murdered Jews is a gross exaggeration. People who say that Anne Frank’s diary is fiction can also be called
revisionist.
Round up (also called a razzia) : Raids to find and arrest Jews
SA or Stormtroopers (Sturmabteilung): Formed in 1921, they were members of the NSDAP who volunteered to
organize into military units. They played a major role in gaining power for the NSDAP.
SS or Protection Squads (Schutzstaffeln): The SS was the most powerful organization within the Nazi regime,
and also the most feared. It was responsible for the concentration camps and for the killing squads that murdered political oppo-
nents and ‘racial’ minorities. Members of the SS tortured and murdered men, women and children throughout Europe. They were
responsible for the systematic murder of millions of people in the death camps. The SS was declared a criminal organization at
the Nuremberg Trials
Swastika (Hakenkreuz): The NSDAP (The National Socialist German Workers Party) started using the swastika as its
symbol in 1920. It became the symbol of the Nazi party and of Nazi hegemony in Germany from 1933 to 1945. The swastika
dates from around 4000 B.C. and is thought to symbolize the holy and benevolent powers of the sun. It was known in Northern
and Central Europe, the Middle East, India, China and Japan and amongst Semitic peoples (especially Arabs). It began to be used
politically in about 1900 and many political groupings turned it into an anti-Semitic (anti-Jewish) symbol.
Third Reich (Empire) (Drittes Reich) The period 1933-1945 in Germany. The term has no legal meaning but was coined by the
Nazi propaganda department to denote that ‘by the grace and power of Adolf Hitler, all that was best in the great German people
would flourish for the next thousand years of the German Reich’. According to the Nazi version of history, the First Reich existed
during the Holy Roman Empire from 962 to 1806 and the Second Reich was in existence under the Hohenzollern Empire from
1871 to 1918. The Weimar Republic was classed as an interim period and the Third Reich was destined to last a thousand years.
Wannsee Conference (Wannsee-Konferenz): This conference was held on January 20, 1942 at the instigation of
Reinhard Heydrich, head of the Security Police. Its aim was to clarify the position concerning the so-called ‘Final Solution of the
Jewish question’, meaning the murder of all Jews in Europe. In July 1941, Heydrich had been officially asked by Reich Marshall
Hermann Goering to come up with a comprehensive blueprint for the ‘Final Solution’ - its organization, logistics and material
requirements.
Wehrmacht: The official title of the German army. Hitler re-introduced the draft in March 1935 saying:” the Wehrmacht will
bear arms to protect the German people; it will be the military school for our fighting forces; it consists of the army, the navy and
the air force.”
The White Rose (Weisse Rose): The name of a resistance group in Munich. They were mostly students, led by a bro-
ther and sister, Sophie and Hans Scholl. The White Rose began distributing anti-Nazi pamphlets in the spring of 1942, assisted
by their professor of philosophy, Kurt Huber. The Scholls were arrested at the University on February 18, 1943 while distributing
their literature. Their trial lasted two days and they were condemned to death. They were executed on February 22, 1943. They
were 22 and 25 years old.
Working camp: Mostly primitive camps consisting of barracks, that functioned as sleeping places for the forced laborers.
Such camps started to be set up in 1939 in Germany and in all occupied regions. The man responsible for them was the head of
the > SS and at the same time head of the German police, Heinrich Himmler. The camps were observed by troops of the SS. ( >
Concentration camps).
Zyklon B: Another name for hydrogen cyanide, the poisonous gas that was used to kill people in the Nazi gas chambers.
55

Manual Guide For Anne Frank A History For Today

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Manual Guide

for the travelling exhibition

“Anne Frank – A History For Today»

The travelling Anne Frank exhibition

Perpetrators, victims, bystanders, helpers

Aims of the exhibition

Structure of the exhibition

Structure of a guided tour

Closing the tour

Have a look at several examples of how to end your guided tour:

Advantages of individual visits

Contents of the exhibition

The path through the exhibition

Working with younger students

Working with photos

Questions and discussions, not monologues!

Your “thread” through the exhibition

How do I stand in front of a group?

How do I cope with “trouble makers”?

Addressing tough questions

Possible reasons for the quietness:

When a teacher keeps interfering

The diary’s authenticity

Film“The Short Life” and other support materials

Anne at the Montessori School

Possible questions and issues

Possible questions and issues

A demonstration against the Treaty of

Money had become worthless because of the economic crisis. In 1923,

Economic Crisis. Children playing with

NSDAP Advertising campaign

During national elections in July 1932, the NSDAP received 37 percent of

Possible questions and issues

Hannover - the unemployed standing

Hitler promised Germans several things:

Possible questions and issues

Germany, April 1st 1933

Possible questions and issues

Otto Frank around January 30th 1933:

Possible questions and issues

Possible questions and issues

-What could this German author have meant by this?

Background information Anne at the Montessori-school

Possible questions and issues

Possible questions and answers

Possible questions and issues

Children being studied for

Possible questions and issues

The Nazis organized a mass attack on the Jewish communities of Ger-

Possible questions and issues

Possible questions and issues

Possible questions and issues

Background information Amsterdam

Possible questions and issues

In the Netherlands, the deportation of Jews started in the summer of

Possible questions and issues

Possible questions and issues

Also resources to be considered:

Possible questions and issues