ALFA hosts tour of Anne Frank’s home
By Chris Mac Kenzie
The Alpine Sun
ALPINE — It looks like a regular bookcase, but when the docent moves it, visitors to the Anne Frank House reconstruction discover that the bookcase is the entrance to a 16- by 18-foot, two-room structure with an access hallway, a small bedroom and a living room/kitchen/dining area. Eight people, Anne, her family and four strangers lived in a place like this for two years before they were betrayed to the Nazis and taken away to die in the Bergen-Belsen death camp.
This amazing exhibit, which will be built inside the Alpine Library Friends Association Book Store in the Town Center Alpine Creek, Suite 14, will come to Alpine from March 21 to 26. As visitors walk through this replica of the attic where a 13-year-old girl and her family hid, they will get a glimpse of what life was like for German Jewish victims of Nazi hatred.
Anne shared her bedroom with a gentleman she scarcely knew but she did manage to decorate its walls with photos of Hollywood stars. The living room, also serving as a bedroom for the rest of the group, was where they gathered to listen to BBC radio, meet with helpers bringing news from outside, and dream about what they could do when the war was over.
The house is furnished with antiques of the period duplicating the original furnishings as accurately as possible. The windows are blacked out with heavy curtains. An authentic newspaper article on the table shows hundreds of thousands of people cheering on their leader.
The rooms will hold 15 to 20 people at a time, although not comfortably, accentuating the feeling of confinement, and reminding visitors of what it must have been like for those hunted individuals.
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They tried to maintain their lives with hope, dreams and creativity. Anne, the precocious teenager, kept a diary, saved by one of the family helpers, Miep Gies, and later published. It reveals her talent as a writer as it also included short stories, fairy tales and essays.
As visitors exit this fascinating replica, they’ll see posters of Anne Frank’s life, her family, their hiding place and even the concentration camps to which they were sent. A timeline on one side of the little building shows what was going on in the world during this period. A Pyramid of Hate poster depicts how bias can lead to discrimination, violence and genocide.
The whole exhibit was built by members of the San Diego Chapter of the Association of Jewish Libraries and the staff of the Lawrence Family Jewish Community Center for the 11th Annual San Diego Jewish Book Fair in the fall of 2005. Funding was provided by the Private Bank of America, Sempra Energy and Dr.Andrew and Erna Viterbi. “Inside Anne Frank’s House” is now traveling to area schools and libraries in San Diego County.
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Frank sat and penned her diary at a desk similar to the one
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The Alpine visit is sponsored jointly by the Alpine Library Friends Association and the Alpine Jewish Connection. Members will serve as docents, guiding visitors through the exhibit. It will be open Tuesday through Friday, March 21 to 24, from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday, March 25 and 26, from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Tour groups from Joan MacQueen Middle School, the Alpine Chamber of Commerce and Library Friends groups from other local libraries have already been scheduled and more are welcome. For tour reservations and arrangements, one may call 722-1277, but the general public is welcome at any time that the exhibit is open.
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