Anne Frank’s house 
Anne Frank
Anne Frank was a jewish girl born June 12 of 1929 in Germany. She’s an amazing figure in history, due to the fact that she started writing a diary in 1942, during the second world’s war, that also narrates her life during the two years that her family, four more persons and her were hiding in a secret annex during the Nazi German occupation of the Netherlands.
This girl lived many years at her parents house, that seemed a normal house at first sight, but had a secret annex behind, to which you could access with a stair hiding behind a bookcase. There is where they lived hiding from the nazi’s persecution during two years, until they caught them and finally she ended up in a concentration camp where she died in 1945 with 16 years old.
_____________________________THE HOUSE______________________________
The house was and is located at 263 Prinsergracht, in Amsterdam, located on a canal. As I said before, it had a hidden secret refuge, which became the safe place for her family (her mom Edith Frank, the dad Otto Frank, her sister Margot Frank, and her), the Van Pels family (the dad Hermann van Pels, the mom Auguste van Pels, and their child Peter van Pels), and Fritz Pfeffer.
An interesting fact is that at some point during the hiding years, Peter, who was two years older than Anne, had a short loving relationship with Anne. This boy was Anne’s support in the house, as they became really close and talked to each other about what concerned them during that scary time.
The front part of the house, and also called the “front house”, was a normal one really similar to the ones that were beside it, and that remains normal during the whole visible part of the house. In this part, there was a storeroom, offices, workrooms and employees going in and out during regular business hours.
There is a point in the house, the point shown in the picture, where there is a bookcase in a room that everyone would see as normal. But this is actually the entrance to the secret annex of their house, also called the “back house”, as by only moving the bookcase, you will discover a little door behind it.
Once you crossed that small door, you will already be in the “back house”, the hidden space of the house and refuge.
It was not very big, but had enough space for eight people who stayed there for two straight years. The first room you would see once inside, is the entrance, with a really high stair in front of you, and one door at each of your sides.
The door at your right, is the entrance to the bathroom, used by the eight members living at the house. Anne had an imaginary friend, Kitti, with who she talked about her insecurities and teenager love stories.
The toilet in this room, could not be used between 8:30 am and 9 am, because of the noise it produces, that could attract attention from the people working down in the warehouse who couldn’t find our. Once the family helpers arrived at 9 to starts working, they could use the toilet, as the other workers would think the noise came from the office staff.
There is another door in the bathroom besides the one of its entrance, that leads to Anne Frank and Fritz Pfeffer’s room. Its walls were decorated with pictures of Hollywood stars, art and royalty, decorated by the little Anne. this was a really small rectangular bedroom, with two beds placed aside and a little desk, where she wrote her famous diary. There was a discussion between Frank and Pfeffer over the little table, as both of them wanted space to work, and his thoughts were that Anne’s work were not that important as his. She wrote about it in her diary.
There was a window at the end of their room, which illuminated it during the day, and at night, as they had to rationalize the electricity, it was very dark. Anne watched her neighbors thought the binoculars when it was dark at the secret annex, as they had their lights on, so then she could be entertained for a while.
Crossing the second door of their bedroom, there was her parents and sister’s bedroom. That room was composed of the beds, some shelves with books, and a table with chairs at the back. An interesting fact about this space, is that there is a spot on the wall in which Otto Frank kept track of Anne’s growth (she got 13 cm taller). There was also another spot, where Otto kept track of the progress of the Allies with a little map hinged on the wall.
In between the quiet thirty minutes of the morning, Otto used to read in his room, and Anne would write in her diary.
Again, there was a second door in their bedroom too, but this one finally completed the circle of bedrooms, as it lead to the entrance once again, that if we go back to the beginning, was the door that we had at our left.
So now that we analyzed the first floor, let’s go to the second one. From the entrance, we would go up the stairs, and we will end up in Hermann and August’s room. This room had two beds, a small kitchen, a desk, and a center table, where they used to play a board game.
They obviously had their differences in the house, as they were eight people, but this table was the reconciliation figure in the house, as is where they celebrated their birthdays and celebrations.
Then, besides the door that guides us again to the entrance, there was another door, that guides us to Peter’s bedroom. His room had a small bed, a desk, some bookshelves, his bicycle, and a specific spot where he hanged his clothes. Peter took special care of his clothing, as he neared normal outfits during the week, but on Sundays he would put on his best suit.
his bike 
his clothes
His room had a central stepladder, which served to go up to the attic of the back house. An interesting fact, is that after Anne and Peter fell in love, they had their first kiss on Peter’s bed.
Going up through the stepladder we get to the last room of the refuge, the attic. This place was dark and not insulated, so it was only suitable for rats to be in it. They used it for storage, and kept their clothes drying in the room. Anne also said in her diary, that that was the room where she went either to be alone, or to talk undisturbed to Peter.
The attic window was an exception, as it wasn’t blacked out as the other ones in the house, so it was the only one that allowed Anne to look outside, always careful to not been caught.
PERSONAL OPINION_________________________________________________________
I am always really fascinated about this little girl’s story. I think she’s a role to follow, because if you read her diary, you will see that she always tries her best to keep her spirit up, and to appreciate each day she’s alive. She had her teenage live in a secret refuge while living a world war, and had only one boy of her age in it, and even with all that happening she kept thinking positive and finding happiness in their little home.
Nowadays, many teenagers doesn’t even try to appreciate the lives they have, and also many of the young people like us, think our world is over when the minimum happen, as for example failing an exam. That shouldn’t go that way in my opinion, that’s why I think she’s a clear example of what appreciating life should look like.