A story told 3,600 miles from Amsterdam. Eight decades later—Anne Frank's life is front and center in New York City.
Michael Glickman, an advisor to the Anne Frank House in New York, emphasizes the importance of this narrative and the lessons it teaches.
"This is not something that could be denied," he said. "This is not something that should be distorted. This happened, and we give you the information, the artifacts, the stories, the suffering, the pain."
The hallways of the exhibit tell the story of the Frank family's experiences — from Frankfurt to Amsterdam, hiding from the Nazis, and facing the horrors of concentration camps. This mirrors the forced migration of Jews throughout Europe.
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An exact replica of the annex where eight people hid for two years evokes powerful emotions. Glickman notes, "I think part of this is really understanding each other's humanity."
Students visiting the exhibit have an immediate flow of questions.
"They're asking about how people could allow this to happen," Glickman shares. "They're asking about how government didn't stop this. They're asking about whether or not something like this could happen again today."
For many of these students, this experience marks their first interaction with Jewish stories. Glickman observes, "I think they're wondering how something like antisemitism, which led to the most destructive, most awful, most evil part of humanity, could be rising again—especially here in New York."
The statistics underscore this concern. The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) recently reported the highest number of antisemitic incidents in its 46-year history — a 5% increase from 2023. New York is leading the nation in these incidents, which are also occurring across all 50 states and Washington, D.C., including one in five on college campuses and K-12 schools.
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As Holocaust survivors pass away, there is a pressing need to connect with new generations — those who will never have face-to-face conversations with survivors. Anne Frank's story, focused on her life before the camps and the evil that surrounded her, resonates with these students.
Glickman adds that many students can see glimpses of themselves in her narrative. This has been the goal all along; Anne's father, Otto, expressed a desire for her legacy to live on during a class in 1974.
"Our hope," Glickman concludes, "is that the next time they're on social media, in conversation with a friend, or when they hear something alarming, they at least think about what their reaction should be and could be before they respond."
This story was initially reported by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
