amsterday - day three

our last day in amsterdam took us into the jewish district where we spent time visiting the portuguese synagogue, the auschwitz memorial, and then i took a detour of my own and went to the anne frank house while laura visited the resistance museum.

the synagogue (esnoga) was neat in that there is no heating or electricity - lighting is provided by candles, and heat by the warmth of the congregation. of course we were there when they were using the winter synagogue (presumably with heat) and so we slightly froze while touring the facility.

so as the story goes, the jews that call this synagogue home first were expelled from spain, where they fled to nearby portugal. from there, in the 1400s, they were expelled and then settled in amsterdam where they found the freedom to practice their faith. they called themselves portuguese so as not to associate themselves with the spanish, whom with the dutch were at war.

inside the esnoga

during the occupation, many of these jews (the numbers are so frightening) were taken from amsterdam and shipped off to the death/concentration camps but for some reason, the nazis left this building untouched. no one knows why but what a mystery. why wouldn't you destroy the temple of those you hate the most? but lucky for us, as it remains as it was and is currently undergoing restoration.

but for me the highlight of the day (and the whole trip really) was going to the anne frank museum. now before i jump into the museum...if you EVER go there, buy your tickets online in advance. they only sell so many per day, and in 30 minute time slots (for when you show up) and you will pass the amazingly long queue. you have your own entrance and once inside, you can take your time...and please do.

anne frank house

i was told recently that coming from poland, the anne frank house is not considered a big deal as they have auschwitz . its not a boast...more like further concrete proof of the devastation that we allowed to happen. so they can't understand how one person can touch so many people when they have piles of shoes on display.

but that's just it...she was one person. what makes anne frank important is that she put a face to the devastation. we were invited to read her thoughts, her fears, and see what life was like living in a small space for 2 years felt like. so for me, to stand in her room, looking at the pictures she had glued on the walls to make it more livable, stepping on the creeking stairs to understand how hard it was to be quiet for hours on end every day, hoping that you won't get caught out, really brought it home for me.

i couldn't help it. i cried.

no photos are allowed in the museum, and mobile phones are switched off while you're in there. and for the first time in my life i witnessed the vast tourists actually respecting the request. this house does not need to be open to the public. otto frank didn't have to share the private thoughts of his teenaged daughter. we did not have the right to be there, and we all understood that.

you walk through the warehouse where the factory workers worked not knowing 8 people hid in the floors above. you walk through the next floor, where miep, bep and kugler worked during the day, and where anne and margot took their baths at night. they even have the shades drawn, and if you were sensitive enough to have read the book, you could have looked out the small crack of the window she would have looked out into the world. her only view for 2 years!

then, you get to walk through the book case.

again, the rooms they actually called home were so small for the amount of people who lived there. and for 2 years as well. but the museum does not end when you get to peter's room (the attic of the annex is not open to the public but there is a strategically placed mirror where you can look in and see it in its glory. its where she and peter fell in love. so touching. after peter's room you are ushered into the museum attached next door where you hear testimonies from people who saw her in the camps afterward - her neighbouring friend hannah. you read about each of the 8's fate - who went to what camp, how they died, their identity cards. one with a crudely sketched swastika.

and finally, you get to the room that holds the diary. dimly lit, naturally, the red plaid diary is in the middle of the room, behind glass, and opened up midway. throughout the room you see her rewrittend rafts (after she found out that diaries were to be published, she went back and edited/rewrote her diary and you can see her bigger pages there), you see her short stories and  her book of favourite quotations.

from there you go into the learning part of the musuem, where otto frank helped develop a learning centre for everyone (not just students) come to understand the basis of racism and prejudice with the hope of abolishing it. i was touched.

perhaps the most long lasting impression i had was when otto frank said of his daughter (and i have to paraphrase) that he, who was so close to his daughter and thought he knew her well, realized after he read her diary, that she was so much more than that.

and isn't that an amazing thing?