Amsterdam

1/16/10
Amsterdam, Netherlands
Anne Frank and Corrie Ten Boom
Casie:
Today we went to Anne Frank’s house in Amsterdam. I had been looking forward to seeing her house mainly because that is the prominent story we associate with WW2 in school since elementary. It was the strangest feeling walking around in the annex on those creaky wooden boards over 60 years ago. Besides that, I started journaling because of her. The fact that journaling was her safe place during the war is a beautiful thing. She wrote because she could and no one could take that right away from her. She kept her journal in her father’s briefcase. When the Nazi officers came to their hiding place, they emptied her father’s briefcase and filled it with valuables. They diary was left on the floor and Miep kept it in a safe for her father. It was then that her father found the diary and decided to publish it. I understand her perspective is only one amongst many others but her view on the war was insightful and makes the war situation more personal nonetheless.

Next on the list of sites was Corrie Ten Boom’s house. What a woman she was. We walked through the house and saw the room she stayed in. Behind her bed, they had made a “fake wall” that could hold up to 6 people very cramped up in it. There was a story that 6 people were behind the wall for 2 days because officers guarded the house to make sure people were not hiding. They all survived. After that, she went to Germany to share her faith and help others. I think if she was still alive, we would go a cup of tea and she would share miraculous stories of all the sites she’d seen and encourage me to open my eyes to the brokenness in the world.

Becca:
Amsterdam: wonderful, wonderful town. I promise to return for more than part of a day. You were one of my favorite things on this trip. The buildings, the people, the shopping, the food – all fabulous. Ahh.

Anne Frank’s house – I was really excited about visiting the Annex. I think a lot of girls relate to Anne growing up, as practically everyone reads her diary at some point. For me, we studied it in depth in eighth grade. I distinctly remember sobbing in this class the day we talked about the Holocaust. I was a very sheltered child and I could not possibly comprehend how something like this could happen, and to someone I felt like could be my friend if I had lived in another time and place. Vivid memory.

The Annex was incredibly cramped. I can’t imagine the hardship of living in such close quarters so quietly for so long. I guess if it is a matter of life and death, you do it. It was amazing to be there in the rooms they walked and lived in. It is not something I will forget easily.

We then went across the city to Corrie Ten Boom’s house – a Christian lady who housed Jews, both men and women, disguised as women (who were considered to be less dangerous and intimidating than men) from the Nazis. Some of the students got to go into the actual “hiding place” which provided the title for Corrie’s famous book, The Hiding Place. Another very interesting experience run by a very interesting lady.

Tomorrow is Battle of the Bulge day…lots of walking in battlefields and whatnot. I’m a bit worried since my back has been not so friendly lately, but I’m hoping that I will be able to trudge away. It is something I have been anticipating, hoping to understand its role in the war more thoroughly.