New Town Hall

The walking tour started right in front of the New Town Hall in the Marienplatz square in Munich pictured above. Hitler coined Munich as the “Capital of the Movement” on August 2, 1935. Many swastika flags flew from this building from 1933 to 1945.  

Our guide, Rolfe, was incredibly knowledgeable. He started the tour by describing Hitler’s early life in Munich. Hitler came to Munich from Vienna and tried to make a living by selling postcards that he painted. Rolfe brought us to a courtyard that Hitler painted and showed us a copy of it. Here is a section of the courtyard that he liked to paint.

His art proved to be unsuccessful so he abandoned it. He later served in the First World War fighting with the Bavarian troops. When he returned, he became interested in the ideologies of the right-wing extremists. He played an important role in the German Worker’s Party and it was at this time when he developed his public speaking abilities. In a meeting at the Hofbräuhaus in February of 1920, the party was renamed the National Socialist German Workers’ Party (NSDAP or Nazi Party). Below is a picture of the place where this meeting occured.

The party grew considerably over time. By July 1921 Hitler was able to take over the party and he was elected party chairman. A group was created to protect the party during its many rallies and were most infamously known for their attacks on Jews and all others who might be considered opponents of the Nazi Party. This group was called the Storm Troopers, or the SA for short.

Max-Joseph Platz

Rolfe also told us that Hitler use to come to Max-Joseph Platz to listen to Wagner, his favorite German composer. Hitler also came here to paint this structure where the opera and symphony played.

During 1923, Munich and all of Bavaria were in the midst of tense political and economical situations. Every few months a new government took the place of the previous one. The Deutch mark was worth so little, people were carrying their money around in wheelbarrows. It required dozens, then hundreds, of bills to buy one small item. In one instance, that has become folklore, a lady went into a store carrying her money in a basket. When she set it down to browse for a few minutes, someone stole the basket but left the money on the floor.

Against this drastic backdrop, Hitler’s ideas and gift for public speaking began to influence more and more people. Hitler was encouraged by Mussolini’s march on Italy in 1922. He felt that if he could take over the government of Munich, then the rest of Germany would rise up and support him. This led to an attempt to take over Bavaria by force. We call this today the Beer Hall Putsch of 1923.

In a beer hall in 1923, Hitler and his followers busted in on a meeting of Bavarian officials who were also thinking of taking over the government. The government officials did not take Hitler seriously because he was dressed in a long-tailed, black suit. One of the commissioners called Hitler a waiter and asked him for more beer as the room roared with laughter. After this insult, things got more serious.

HItler’s thugs were armed and they held the commissioners hostage. The National Socialists eventually marched down a wide street by the Feldherrenhalle Hall, a famous building where there was a monument to Germans who had died in the First World War. Below is a picture of the hall where this event took place.

Memorial on the east side of the Feldherrnalle

The roadblock set up by Munich officials to stop the National Socialists shot into Hitler’s crowd and killed fifteen of his men. The Nazis returned fire killing four policemen, and one innocent bystander. 

Later, Hitler used the 9th and 10th of November, the date of the putsch, as a sacred day on the National Socialist calendar. The Putsch was commemorated in Nuremburg during each annual rally.

HItler got away from the violence by the Feldherrenhalle Hall but was soon arrested and charged with high treason. This could have gotten him executed.  But, at the trial, because so many top officials were involved in Hitler’s coup, he was able to cut a deal.  

Hitler was initially sentenced to five years in prison; however, because the Nazi Party was banned and the Bavarian government no longer considered him a threat, he was freed less than a year later. During his time in prison he wrote Mein Kampf, My Struggle. In this book, Hitler describes his political ideas and puts forth his anti-semitic beliefs. He also came to the conclusion that armed takover was not the answer. Hitler chose to use democracy as a legal means to power.

Hitler used his time after jail to create contacts and build his political machine. In 1925 the ban on the National Socialists was lifted and Hitler was able to gather support. By September of 1930, the Nazi Party gathered 18 percent of the votes in the Reichstag, not a large power bloc, but a political presence.  Circumstances soon changed dramatically. The international economic depression that started in the U.S. created dreadful living conditions all across Germany. By July of 1932, the Nazi Party’s message made them the strongest party in parliament.

Hitler became influential within the Munich elite. He often attended the house of Hugo Bruckmann, a wealthy publisher, but was not fully accepted by Bavarian society until he had learned proper social etiquette. The ladies of the many houses he visited made sure he knew which fork to use during dinner and just how to conduct himself properly with the people of the German upper class. Pictured below is where Hitler came to understand such social behavior and where he was introduced to many important public figures.

Hugo Bruckmann's House

Through Hitler’s contacts, the Nazi Party received many donations from wealthy Germans that allowed members to buy property for their headquarters. In 1930, the “Brown House” was purchased well below market value from a Jewish owner. Hitler then had it converted to his specifications. This building pictured below housed the offices of party members and high-ranking Nazi personnel such as Deputy Rudolf Hess and the head of the party’s legal office, Hans Frank.

Hitler's Headquarters "Brown House"

We went inside this building, which is currently used as a conservatory of music, and got a glimpse of the staircase leading up to what was once Adolf Hitler’s office.

Hitler became Reich Chancellor on January 30, 1933 and moved to Berlin. The next crucial event to take place was the Reichstag fire on February 27, 1933. This caused the Nazi Party to begin blaming and oppressing those whom they believed to be the instigators. They began to round up anyone that held views against the party.

Two important changes in government policy occurred at this time. The Malicious Practices Act and the Enabling Act both allowed the Nazi Party to take complete charge of anyone who might retaliate against Hitler’s regime. These acts also allowed complete control over the courts and police. Communists were being accused and arrested along with other political opponents of National Socialism. Because of this, prisons were starting to fill up. In order to deal with this issue, Heinrich Himmler, leader of Hitler’s SS force, created the first concentration camp in March of 1933. Here, prisoners were detained for years under inhuman conditions.

Dachau Concentration Camp Memorial

Later, prisoners from more than thirty countries were brought to Dachau. The idea behind the camp was to “exterminate through labor”. According to Eric, our guide at Dachau, men lost three things upon entering this camp; their belongings, their individuality, and their humanity.

The picture below was used as propaganda for the press. Dachau was presented to the public as a place where prisoners were re-educated through work and treated humanely. If you look at the photo, you can see that the men do not appear to be starving in any way. These men were probably recently brought to the camp and performed heavy work, giving their muscles a bit of tone. Notice how their eyes are looking down, as if they are guilty of something. They were pretty much conditioned to look down in order to avoid eye contact with their oppressors. Also notice how they are standing. Their feet together and hands at their sides. This would have been standard posture during roll-calls. Any shift in body posture might result in severe beatings. Also notice the angle. The photo was taken from above the men in order to give the observer the sense that he or she is above them. The lighting casts a dark shadow on one side of their faces. This gives the inmates a shady appearance.

Camp Prisoners

The Nazi Party became so powerful that they had seized control over all aspects of daily life. Hitler was not only Chancellor of the Reich, but after Hindenberg’s death, he also became the President. The courts, the police, the civil service, the press, private corporations, were all under the direction of the Nazi Party.

In 1933, life for the Jews became a nightmare. They were excluded from all areas of public life. Violence was used against them. Anyone shopping in a Jewish owned business was abused and harassed by Nazi officials. In 1939 many Jewish residents were told to leave their apartments and move to specially designated “Jewish Houses.”

“Kristallnacht” (Night of Broken Glass) of November 1938 was just the beginning of the persecution of the Jews. During this night, synagogues were burned and Jewish owned shops were terrorized all across Germany. The Nazi Propoganda Minister, Joseph Goebbels, made the call to attack the Jews from a stage in Munich.

There were people at this time who tried to resist. Priests and clergy used church services to speak out against the Nazis. Students of the medical university in Munich printed pamphlets and distributed them to people. Most who resisted were eventually caught and sent to Dachau, the Eastern extermination camps, or were immediately shot.

 The Hitler’s Munich Walking Tour and Tour of Dachau were both incredibly powerful. We got a chance to sit down with Eric, our guide through Dachau, to talk and ask questions. One of my concerns, as I mentioned in my last blog, was that I wasn’t able to talk with local Germans about their experiences with the past. Eric responded to this by saying that it usually takes people a little while to open up and discuss this with strangers. He also told us that children learn about Germany’s Nazi past in schools. It is an important part of the curriculum because teachers do not want students to not know what has gone on. Rightfully so. We need to understand the past in order to understand where we are headed.

The Nazi Party Rally Grounds: this was where the propaganda began. It was the theater that set the stage for National Socialism. Why Nürnberg? Adolf Hitler viewed Nürnberg as a city rich in tradition and German history. The mayor of Nürnberg, Lord Mayor Liebel, called it the ‘most German of all German cities.’

There were six Nazi Party Rallies that took place in Nürnberg. These rallies were great undertakings geared to present the idea of volksgemeinschaft which meant community of the people. This idea was important for the regime because it stripped people from their sense of individuality. This was necessary in order for the masses to become under the complete control of the Nazi leaders.

There were so many aspects to these rallies that captured the people’s attention and made them feel that they were taking part in something important and grand. Not only did they come to hear Hitler’s speeches, they came to learn what it meant to be German.

The German people needed something and someone to believe in. After WWI, people were at a loss. The Deutch mark was worth next to nothing. People were down and out and were primed to believe in what Hitler was declaiming.

Nürnberg was ripe for National Socialism due to its economic needs. The town accepted the Nazi program like a savior.

Hitler hired Albert Speer as the architect for the Nazi Party buildings and grounds. Speer created buildings that were designed to impress and intimidate. Speer was previously in charge of the lighting during the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin and used the same techniques during the Nazi Party Rally in the following September of that year. The lighting was part of a whole scheme that added to the overall effect. There were also enormous torches and banners. It was all created to give the audience the feeling that the ceremony was a sacred ritual, that National Socialism was as powerful as any religion.

I stood on the grounds, which is now converted into a park, and imagined 150,000 people gathered together captured by Hitler’s speeches. I was not only baffled by the amount of people that would have come to the rallies, but also by the way in which the Party was able to pull this off.

While traveling from site to site I have been reading The Language of the Third Reich by Victor Klemperer. Klemperer lived through the war and observed all that had gone on. He could see the mechanics of the language behind the propaganda of the Reich. He states that,

          “The sole purpose of the LTI (language of the Third Reich) is to strip everyone of their individuality, to paralyze them as personalities, to make them into unthinking and docile cattle in a herd driven and hounded in a particular direction, to turn them into atoms in a huge rolling block of stone.” (21)

He describes the rallies as a mixture of religious and theatrical ceremony and goes on to explain that language was the most powerful force in gathering followers. It was the way in which the language was used that captured people’s attention.

         ”No, the most powerful influence was exerted neither by individual speeches nor by articles or flyers, posters, or flags: it was not achieved by things which one had to absorb by conscious thought or conscious emotions.

          Instead, Nazism permeated the flesh and blood of the people through single words, idioms, and sentence structures which were imposed on them in a million repetitions and taken on board mechanically and unconsciously.” (14)

Close to the site of the Rally Grounds was the Congress Hall. This building was designed to house 50,000 people for party congresses that would have been led by Hitler. It was never completed, but inside this structure now stands the Documentation Center housing an exhibit entitled, ‘Fascination and Terror’.  As I watched the films and read about the plans for the Great Road, the Great Hall, and Colliseum, I was instantly reminded of the buldings of the Assyrian Empire and the monstrous structures they built for the very same reasons the Nazi Party intended: to show proof of their power.

On a side note, I took two days to visit an old friend of mine. We were together in the Peace Corps (Armenia) eleven years ago. Since I was in Nürenberg, I was only two hours away from Pfaffingen, the small village she now resides with her husband and two dogs McGregor and Flea. I figured it was a good opportunity to visit. Here is a photo of Jenny and me. . .and McGregor and Flea.

McGregor

Flea

My last post should be in a couple of days as I finish my journey in Munich. Tomorrow we will take the Hiter’s Walking Tour of Munich, which includes the Dachau Concentration Camp Memorial. It should be a full and exhausting day. But not to worry. The day after we will fly to Rome and spend some time living la dolce vita!!

Arbeit Macht Frei

Arbeit Macht Frei: Work Sets You Free: The sign upon entering the prisoner’s camp at Sachsenhausen. This sign was also familiar to those who passed through Auschwitz. Total propaganda, of course. Work didn’t set you free; It killed.

The camp was built by prisoners during the summer of 1936 after SS Heinrich Himmler was appointed Chief of the German Police. It was constructed as a model for other concentration camps and a place where the SS were trained to become murderers. It was first used as a place for anyone opposing the Nazi regime. Between 1936 and 1945, 200,000 were imprisoned here. Thousands died of starvation, inhumane treatment, forced labor, and disease. Others were systematically murdered by the SS.

The camp is located about 35 kilometers north of Berlin. We took a train to the Sachsenhausen stop and made our way to the camp site by following signs. At one point, to be sure we were in the right direction, we stopped to ask a man. His response completely shocked me. He said he had absolutely no idea. How could someone not know that there was a concentration camp site in their own backyard? Sachsenhausen is located in a residential area where people live and play within a stones throw of the camp.

View of the Sachsenhausen neighborhood

It was overwhelming to read about the humiliation, execution, and destruction of the human spirit at Sachsenhausen, but it was worse to stand in the same places where all of this occurred. Here Soviet prisoners, German intellectuals who sided with the oppositional parties, and Jewish prisoners taken after Kristallnacht (Night of Broken Glass) all came to suffer from brutal punishment.

I learned that prisoners in the punishment squad had to test out shoes on a ‘shoe-testing track.’ They were forced sometimes by the SS to wear shoes that were much too small for them causing severe blisters and pain as they marched around the track endlessly in order to test out the material for the soles of army boots. Of course, the sores would probably never heal after being forced around the track day in and day out.

Strangely enough, the SS put up a Christmas tree in the same spot where they would have roll-call. This was also the place where they would execute prisoners right in front of the others to instill fear and obedience.

Site of the Gallows in the Roll-Call area

Security System

The above picture shows the ‘death strip’ or as the Nazis called it, the ‘neutral zone.’ It consisted of an electric fence and a camp wall. It was reconstructed in 1961 for the display at the National Memorial.

The camp was designed so that the SS could have their eye on everyone at once at all times of the day. The layout formed the shape of a triangle, wide at the entrance and narrow at the back. This model proved to be inefficient because there was no room to extend and build on to make it larger if necessary.

“Station Z” was the location of the crematorium, where the prisoners were told that they were going through a medical examination. When it came time to check their height, the prisoners would stand next to a ruler where there was a hole in one area directly aligned to their necks. This was where the SS aimed and shot and then burned the bodies.

Station Z

In the same area where ‘Station Z’ is located there are memorials for the victims of Sachsenhausen. It was odd to learn that during the GDR (German Democratic Republic) when Germany was split between East and West, the crematorium was almost dismantled. I think it would not have been unlike the authorities of that time to cover up this part of German history.

Commemoration Memorial

But then again, during the time of the GDR there were many memorials constructed. A tall obelisk that stands at the very end of the camp references the thirteen countries that were represented by all those who were brought to Sachsenhausen.

It was difficult to hear about the eleven children who were brought from Auschwitz for medical experiments. Doctors intentionally exposed them to hepatitis for research. Men were sterilized, and other terrorizing operations were carried out.

The Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe is a structural maze. It is the kind of place that is haunting and contemplative at the same time. I entered an area where one of the 2,700 or so concrete blocks reached my shin and slowly, as I walked deeper, they began to rise, towering above my head. The ground became uneven and I had to be careful of my footing as I moved throughout the memorial. Due to this loss of equilibrium, it made me think of the symbolism. For me, this represented a lack of balance during the Holocaust. There was no balance of power since all the power belonged to one group of people. Life as a whole was out of balance.

 The blocks were disruptions in the horizon. They forced me to lose my sense of place and direction. I think these impressions that I got were due to careful planning of the memorial in spite of the creator’s claim that there was no symbolism involved.

Memorial at Night

 Underneath the memorial is an excellent presentation of personal stories. In the lobby, I read the words of Primo Levi, who survived Auschwitz only to commit suicide almost twenty years later:

                         “It happened, therefore it can happen again: this is the core of what we have to say.”

His words are sadly true. They force me to think about Darfur, Cambodia, Armenia, Rwanda, Burundi, and Yugoslavia.

I couldn’t believe the scope of the Holocaust. I never realized just how many countries suffered losses. Jews were taken from as far away as the the Far East, the south of Italy, Finland, Greek island of Kos, and North Africa. The maps below show all the places where Jews were either executed, imprisoned, concentrated, or exterminated.

I also learned that there were members of the Soviet Army who collected any letters or postcards written by Jews on their way to death camps. They gathered any evidence they could documenting what was going on at the time. They kept all the letters and postcards in what they called a “Red Book.” Many people wrote in haste as they were being transported. They threw their letters out of the sides of the train cars hoping someone would pick them up and post them to relatives. Many times the writers knew nothing of their fates.

The above postcard was thrown from a train by Etty Hillesum. She volunteered to work in Westerbork to help the Jews. She was deported after a few months, along with her family, to Auschwitz on September 7, 1943 where she was killed a couple weeks later.

There were so many difficult photos to look at, so much loss, humiliation, and misery. One room contained family stories told from those who survived. The documentation in this exhibit was excellent. One photo showed a young girl and her makeshift hiding spot. After hearing some of the stories, it seemed that survival depended souly on luck or chance. 

This was the part of the trip I was nervous about-for several different reasons. Sifting through the guide books, I read that Bergen-Belsen was going to be difficult to reach and that only those determined to go would get there. From the town of Celle, there are two buses, one to the town of Bergen, and one from Bergen to the concentration camp. They were both trustworthy and surprsingly available when I was there- luckily! But I was determined and would have taken a taxi if I had to.

The town of Celle is just about forty-five minutes from Bergen-Belsen, but the scenery and atmosphere is quite a contrast. Celle was our first intro to Germany and we were not disapointed. Here are some photos of the town. I was so happy to find a place to run while here- around the French Garden-not too shabby.

French Garden

Town of Celle

On September 3, 1944 the Frank family was on the very last train that took them from the Westerbork Transit Camp to Auschwitz. Most people on that train went directly to the gas chambers upon arrival. The Franks, however, were assigned to slave labor. In October, Anne and Margot were taken from Auschwitz and sent to Bergen-Belsen, the worst concentration camp on German soil. Their mother stayed behind and later died of exhaustion in January 1945.

Documentation Center Bergen-Belsen

At Bergen-Belsen, Anne and Margot suffered terribly as did all those who ended up in this wretched place of squalor and stench. The conditions were absolutely incomprehensible. At least 85,000 people were brought here within a five month period (between December 1944-April 1945). The total number of deaths is not completely known. The SS burned camp files before the arrival of the British Troops.

There was overcrowding at the camp. Roll calls were held each morning and people had to line up for hours and hours at a time. There were many children also at the camp (2,750). Those of the age of 14 and older had to work. The rest were left on their own while mothers worked. Fear and exhaustion plagued all.

Today Bergen-Belsen is full of mounds and mounds of mass grave sites. In front of each one, there are stone markers with an estimated number of people buried there. Relatives and survivors have left memory stones on top of each marker. There was so much sorrow and sadness that still lingered. It was impossible not to sense it as I walked around. It was the worst cemetery I had ever been to in my life mainly because no one buried there died a natural death. They were all left without food or water. They were all left to suffer.

Mass Grave

I came to the Jewish Memorial, and it was here where I turned and saw the headstone I was searching for. The obsidian-colored commemorative marker caught my eye. I gasped and saw Anne and Margot’s name. In front of the stone were many small gifts people left behind: coins, flowers, bracelets, ribbons, special stones and so many other offerings. I also felt the need to leave something behind. I remembered my earrings-circular designs of silver and black representing eternity. How appropriate I thought. Through Anne’s words, she lives on through the ages. I took them off and placed them on one of the stones. One for Anne. One for Margot.

Eternity Offerings

Westerbork Entrance

The Westerbork Transit Camp was built by the Dutch and initially created for Jewish imigrants coming into the Netherlands from Germany before WWII. Later, the Germans took control of it and used it to gather the Jewish people before deporting them to death camps. When the Franks were captured on August 4, 1944, they were taken to this camp. They were considered convicts because they did not report to the German officials when they were supposed to. They were housed in the prison barracks and were not allowed the same treatment that others had. Anne and Margot could not attend the school that was there. There actually was a school. There was also a hospital, a theater, there were sports activities and other diversions. It was pretty much designed this way to keep people occupied before the train came each Tuesday sending everyone off to their deaths. From July 15, 1942 to September 13, 1944 ninety-three trains sent more than a hundred thousand people to extermination camps in Poland and Germany. The Franks were sent from Westerbork to Auschwitz.

The journey to Westerbork for us was nothing in comparison to the Frank’s. We knew where we were bound. We had pastoral scenes to gaze out at from our train seat window. We had food and water. For us, the three trains that we took were on time and ran like clockwork. Once we arrived at our hotel, we rented bikes and had a pleasant ride along the 18 kilometer path to the camp

It was an obvious choice to have such a camp located where it was. Miles of corn and potato fields stretched out before us. Homes became scarce just after a few kilometers. The ride was a little confusing because it was easy to miss the small markers telling us just when to turn. At one point we did miss our turn and ended up back in the town of Westerbork. We definitely got our exercise today.

Once we were close to the camp, the trees became thick at first before they opened up to a stone wall at the end of a short stretch of train tracks. A few paces ahead we could see what looked to be remnants of wall barracks and expanses of raised beds. I later learned that the raised beds marked the spots where the barracks once stood. Conditions in the barracks were awful. People were crowded in bunks of three, one on top of the other. They had all their possessions that they were allowed to take with them on the beds. It was crowded. Clean water was difficult to come by and often times people would die in their bunks.

Bunks

 One of the most moving parts of the camp for me was the memorial to all those who were transported from Westerbork and died in concentration camps. The memorial consists of small raised blocks at different heights lined up in rows. The Star of David is on the top of each block. I saw each as a representation of a person standing tall, or short–all unique, but at the same time all shining stars. When I put my hand on the stars, they felt warm. They had absorbed the heat of the sun from earlier in the day. It was as if I could touch the warmth of each soul that once lived.

Memorial

Surprisingly enough, things did not change right away after occupation. Life seemed pretty much normal.

Eventually, new laws were put in place one by one. The first few laws stated that Jewish citizens were dismissed from government service, they had to register their names with the authorities and declare their property to the bank, they were barred from public facilities, and students were sent to separate schools.

Jewish Students Sent to Different Schools

On Satruday, June 20, 1942 Anne writes in her diary,

….In 1934 I went to school at the Montessori Kindergarten and continued there. It was at the end of the school year, I was in form 6B, when I had to say good-by to Mrs. K. We both wept, it was very sad. In 1941 I went, with my sister Margot, to the Jewish Secondary School, she into the fourth form and I into the first….

I was able to locate the Jewish Secondary School that Anne speaks of in the above diary excerpt. Here are a few pictures from that site: 

Former Jewish Secondary School

Jewish Secondary School

 

The School Compound

After visiting the Dutch Resistance Museum I realized how many people tried desperately hard to fight against the German occupation. So many risked their lives to work against the oppression of the Jews. People resisted by carrying out strikes,  creating clandestine newspapers, hiding Jews and those who worked against the Nazis, among countless other heroic acts.

There were so many personal stories to read about. One story was about Hannie Schaft who joined an armed resistance group in order to get rid of the traitors. Her partner, Truus Oversteegen, also worked with her to carry out dangerous acts such as blowing up bridges and relaying secret information to help in the fight against the Nazis. Truus often dressed up as a man posing as Hannie’s boyfriend so that theycould remain inconspicuos.

Hannie Schaft and Truus Oversteegen

In the above picture you can see Truus on the left and Hannie on the right. Hannie had beautiful red hair. When she was younger, she was often made fun of and singled out because of it. At one point in time during her resistance work her identity was discovered by the authorities. In order to disguise herself she dyed her hair black and put on a pair of glasses.

When the two worked together, they would pretend to kiss while either Hannie or Truus would have her pistol aimed and ready to fire.

The Doors to the Warehouse

On July 6, 1942 Anne Frank and her family were forced to go into hiding in order to escape persecution of the Jews from the Nazis. They entered these doors and did not come out until their capture 25 months later. They hid in the back of the building in what Anne penned, “The Secret Annex.” The building housed her father’s spice business. All but two workers at the company knew about the Frank family who were hidden away. One of the secretaries, Miep Gies, brought in food and supplies to the family every day before workers arrived in the morning and also during the lunch hour when all employees went home to eat.

As I stood before these doors, I imagined the fear and apprehension Miep must have felt before opening them each day. I thought that she must have always worried that the Frank family and the four other occupants might be discovered. I could imagine going to work each day keeping such a secret would have been trying. If the Nazis found out, Miep might also join them in the work camps.

I considered the time I was recuperating from an accident that left me in the hospital for one month. No fresh air. No breezes felt upon my face. But for over two years of this?  What would that be like?

This is a picture of the Westertoren which is situated just around the corner from the “Secret Annex.” Anne mentions in her diary that she enjoyed the sound of the bells coming from the tower.  On Saturday, July 11, 1942 she writes,

          “Dear Kitty,

      Daddy, Mummy, and Margot can’t get used to the sound of the Westertoren clock yet, which tells us the time every quarter of an hour. I can. I loved it from the start, and especially in the night. It’s like a faithful friend. “

Stay tuned for a video of the Westertoren ringing.

Anne Frank Statue

This statue of Anne stands directly in front of the West Church where the bells sound from its towers.

Though I could not take pictures inside the Annex, I can at least describe to you what I saw. Walking up the stairs behind the cupboard was simply moving. Just behind a bookshelf that concealed the door I entered the hiding place and all the stories and anecdotes Anne recounted in her diary and and tales came into my mind. I thought about Peter, the son of the Van Pels, who decided to put a cushion on the low doorway so that no one would bang their head.

Once inside, I immediately felt the oppressive and heavy weight of the air. The light of the feeble yellow lamps barely made a dent in the dark spaces. In the first room of the Annex, I saw the pen marks that Anne’s father made to show the five inches Anne had grown while in hiding. In Anne’s room, copies of the pictures of movie stars and Dutch royalty gave the room a bit of charm. In the following room, the bathroom, I saw a beautiful blue and white toilet. I know, it is hard to believe a toilet can be beautiful in any way, but this one had a decorative design, much like the Delft ceramic that was popular here in the Netherlands. I thought about the difficulties of not being able to flush the toilet all day while workers were in the warehouse. Anne mentioned that one time it became so clogged her father had to take a stick to clean it out. They burned the stick after. Good thing.

The line into the next room where the Van Pels couple stayed came to a standstill. I had to wait a while before going to Peter’s room. I thought about Mr. Van Pels who made sausages one day and hung them up. The room was covered in hanging sausages. I thought about how everyone got a kick out of seeing him dressed up in an apron, all bloody, as if he was a butcher.

As I walked into Peter’s room and looked up at the ladder leading to the attic, I thought about the time Peter went up to grab a bag of beans. All the food was stored in the attic and it attracted rats. As he was coming down the stairs one bit him and the bag of beans came pouring down onto Anne who was down below laughing.

As you can see, I tried to think about the funny images and positive memories Anne wrote about in her diary. There were many moments when I held back tears. It is difficult not to become saddened when you realize why they had to hide and how unfair their situation was.

On July 6th I will make a journey from the Frank’s residence to the Annex just as they did on July 6, 1942. They had to walk the 2 1/2 miles in the pouring rain. Because Jews were forbidden to ride the tram and their bikes, the Franks had to walk. I am sure I will have many things to tell you after I make this journey.

Thanks for reading AND for all your comments. I feel as though you are with me.

Until next time!

July 3, 2008

Above is a map of the Netherlands. I will start in Amsterdam and then travel north. I will stop just outside of Assen at the site of the Westerbork Transit Camp. This is where Anne Frank and her family were forced to go after capture. I will then make my way into Germany heading towads Bremen. I will visit the site of Bergen-Belsen where Anne and her sister Margot spent their last days. From Bergen-Belson I will go to Berlin then south to Nurnberg and then continuing south to Munich.