"Anne Frank's story is known to many, but what you will experience in this exhibition goes beyond that," Ronald Leopold, Executive Director of the Anne Frank House, told a crowd of reporters at the Center for Jewish History. For the first time ever, the secret annex where Anne, her family, and four other Jewish people spent two years hiding from the Nazis has been recreated outside of Amsterdam.
An immersive replica of this five-room hiding place serves as the centerpiece of Anne Frank: The Exhibition, a 7,500 square-foot display that explores not only Anne's years in hiding—during which she wrote her famous diaries—but also the years before moving to Amsterdam, her experience after being captured, her father Otto's journey back home from Auschwitz, and the astounding legacy of her diary.
Set to open on Monday, January 27th, this groundbreaking exhibition marks International Holocaust Remembrance Day and the 80th commemoration of the liberation of Auschwitz. "The exhibition goes beyond the tragic fate...[and] offers a deeper and multifaceted view of who Anne Frank was," said Leopold, "not just a victim of the Holocaust but also just girl, just a teenager, a writer, and of course an enduring symbol of resilience and strength."
Entering the Exhibition
Two photographs of Anne's parents, Otto and Edith, greet visitors at the entrance to the exhibition. Larger-than-life family photos and images of Frankfurt cover the walls as you learn about the Franks' lives before the war. Over 100 original artifacts, many never before displayed publicly, are part of the exhibition. In this room, you can see everyday items such as Otto's writing desk and dinnerware the family used. An audio guide provides context for the artifacts and images on displays.
Portrait Photo by John Halpern
The next gallery gives a glimpse of the Franks' early years in Amsterdam after leaving Germany due to the growing threat of Nazi persecution. Family photo albums are on display along with a small collection of objects from Opekta, the spice and jelly company Otto set up in the Netherlands.
Walking towards the next gallery, the hallway passages are covered in larger-than-life images of crowds waving red swastika-emblazoned flags. This transitional space effectively heightens anxiety, leading visitors into an expansive video gallery where a film about Amsterdam's Nazi occupation and the escalating antisemitism that forced the Franks into hiding is projected onto the walls. At the center of the room, a model of the secret annex shows where the family hid.
Into Anne Frank's Secret Annex
A recreation of the five small rooms where Anne, Margo, Otto, and Edith Frank, Hermann, Auguste, and Peter van Pels and Fritz Pfeffer hid for two years from 1942 until their discovery in 1944 makes up the heart of the exhibition.
A quote from Anne shows her optimism in the grimmest of circumstances. She writes that their secret annex "is an ideal place to hide," and that "there is not a more comfortable hiding place in all of Amsterdam."
Behind a bookcase, visitors first step into a replica of the room shared by Anne's sister Margo, and their parents. Anne's room, which she shared with Fritz, is next.
Unlike the authentic annex rooms in Amsterdam which were intentionally left bare, these recreations are staged to reflect life during Anne's hiding period. Anne's room contains two small beds, a writing desk (which the two occupants quarreled over), a second chair, and the black-out curtains the family used to board the windows. The walls are adorned with newspaper clippings of movie stars and artwork, showcasing Anne's creative interests and teenage expression.
Voiceovers play throughout each room, reciting quotes from Anne's diary and providing insight into life in the secret annex. After passing a tiny bathroom—which could only be used at certain times—visitors enter the kitchen and living area which also served as the Van Pels bedroom. A dress that belonged to Auguste is on display for the first time along with a board game that belonged to Peter.
(Left) The shared kitchen/living room (Right) Peter Van Pels' Room
Standing in these spaces is a profound experience. Every detail—from authentic artifacts to props like kitchen pots, toothbrushes, and pencil cases—brings Anne Frank's story to life in a visceral, tangible way, offering a deeply humanizing view of the young girl known to millions.
After the Annex: Confronting the Holocaust
Upon exiting the secret annex, visitors enter a gallery that explores the concentration camps where Anne and her fellow annex dwellers met their demise. A three-dimensional map of Europe covers the floor with different colored flags noting the location of every concentration camp and site of mass killings throughout the Holocaust. A picture of Anne's kindergarten class, seen earlier in the Amsterdam gallery, reappears here on a video screen. Children in the photo slowly disappear as their names and where they were murdered are spoken aloud. It is a haunting display.
Otto Frank's Journey Home and Anne Frank's Legacy
The final gallery spaces follow Otto Frank's six-month journey from Auschwitz back to Amsterdam after the liberation and the legacy of Anne Frank's diary.
Otto Frank was the only secret annex inhabitant to survive the war. Upon returning to Amsterdam he met with Miep Gies, one of the people who helped his family hide. She shared the tragic news that his daughters died of typhus at Bergen-Belsen concentration camp. He also learned that Gies saved Anne's diaries. Gies relates this story in a video that plays in this exhibition.
The remarkable impact of Anne's writing is illustrated by a winding display of the numerous editions of The Diary of Anne Frank published across the globe over the past 80 years. Anne's words have been translated into 70 different languages. Her story has also been told on stage and on screen in many iterations, represented in the exhibition by posters, awards, props, and promotional ephemera.
Educational Mission of the Anne Frank Annex Exhibit
"An exhibition like this really serves as a powerful reminder of the importance of confronting hate through education and through understanding," Ronald Leopold said, "This exhibition is not just about the past. It's important to learn about the past, but it's more important to learn from the past. That's the education mission Anne's father, the only surviving member of this family gave us when the Anne Frank House was established and opened to the public."
The Center for Jewish History exhibition carries on this mission of education by offering free visits to New York City public and Title I schools. Over 350 classes from across the nation have scheduled visits so far. Each visit includes an accompanying curriculum developed with The Anne Frank Center at the University of South Carolina.
A unique artifact that ties these educational goals to the Frank family is a letter that Otto Frank wrote to a class from the Bronx. In it, he responded to letters students had written to Anne after reading her diary in which they expressed how they would have wanted to be her friend and how they identified with her thoughts and feelings.
Photo by John Halpern
Plan Your Visit to Anne Frank: The Exhibition
The Anne Frank annex recreation at the Center for Jewish History offers a rare opportunity for visitors unable to travel to Amsterdam where 1.2 million people visited the Anne Frank House in 2023. Demand for tickets to the New York exhibit is high, with many weekend tickets already sold out, the exhibition has been extended through October 2025.
At the press preview, Ronald Leopold held up a photo of Anne Frank and a photo of a young Holocaust victim named Levy Spanjer. Anne and Levy shared a birthday. While millions of people know Anne's inner thoughts as expressed through her diaries, no one living knows more about Levy other than his date of birth, his address, his name, and when and where he was murdered. "If we bring Anne Frank to New York and we remember her on International Holocaust Remembrance Day, we also bring Levy Spanjer and we also remember the 1.5 million Jewish children's lives cut short for the single reason they were Jewish," Leopold poignantly stated, "This is the message we hope to bring across in this exhibition that goes beyond Anne Frank."
