NEW ORLEANS – At only 15 years of age, Anne Frank left a great legacy: lessons on the perils of prejudice and discrimination, the importance of tolerance and social justice, and the blessing of hope.  All of this comes to life in the exhibition Anne Frank: A History for Today, developed by the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam and sponsored in North America by the Anne Frank Center USA.  This poignant exhibition will be on display at the National World War II Museum until March 25, 2007.

The exhibition introduces visitors to the history of the two World Wars and the Holocaust from the perspective of Anne Frank and her family.  The presentation contrasts personal photographs of the family, many never before seen, with images of historical events to show how the Franks and millions of other innocent people were victimized by the rise of National Socialism and the actions of many individuals.

Anne Frank was born in Frankfurt, Germany in 1929 and lived there with her parents Otto and Edith and her sister Margot until 1933.  Concerned about the Nazi Party’s rapid rise to power and the ever-growing persecution of Jewish families and other minorities, Otto determined the family should start a new life in Amsterdam.  He established a business there, and life was fairly normal for a few years.

In May, 1940, the German Army invades Holland.  Jews were forced to wear yellow Stars of David on their clothing, and conscriptions for “work abroad” began -- the first steps toward mass deportations and the death camps. The Frank family along with four other Jews went into hiding in “the Secret Annex” of the building occupied by Otto’s company. Miep Gies and three other employees of the company provided supplies and protected their secret.

Anne and her family remained in hiding for more than two years. When they were betrayed and arrested in 1944, they were first taken to Westerbork transit camp in the Netherlands and, from there, to the infamous Auschwitz concentration camp in Nazi-occupied Poland. Later that year, Anne and Margot were transferred to Bergen-Belsen, a concentration camp in northern Germany, where they died of typhus in March of 1945. Both still teenagers, they lived only seven months after their arrest. The following month, British soldiers liberated Bergen-Belsen.  Anne and Margot had been buried in a mass grave.

During her two years in the Secret Annex, Anne’s diary was her solace.  Miep Gies kept the diary and Anne’s other writings and, after the war, gave them to Otto Frank, the only survivor of the eight who had hidden in the Secret Annex.  Since it was first published in 1947, Anne’s diary has become one of the most powerful memoirs of the Holocaust and one of the most widely read books in the world. It has been translated into more than 67 languages.

The exhibition encourages the visitor to learn more about scapegoating, anti-Semitism, racism, ethnic cleansing and genocide, as well as the positive lessons of tolerance, human rights, democracy and personal responsibility. 

Anne Frank: A History for Today  is free with Museum admission and Museum members are admitted free at all times. 

This exhibition was made possible through the generous support of Mr. and Mrs. Alan Franco, The Lupin Foundation, Jewish Endowment Foundation of Louisiana, Jewish Federation of Greater New Orleans, James Carter, Capital One, the Heymann Foundation and the New Orleans Holocaust Memorial Project.

The National World War II Museum, Inc. is designated by Congress as “America’s National World War II Museum.” It interprets the American Experience during World War II years and celebrates the American Spirit, the teamwork, optimism, courage and sacrifice of the men and women who won World War II and promotes the exploration and expression of these values by future generations. The National WWII Museum recently completed the first phase of a $300 million expansion that, when complete, will create a six-acre campus of exhibition pavilions, an advanced format 4-D theater, USO venue, and a research and conference center in downtown New Orleans.  For more information on programs and exhibits at the National World War II Museum, visit  www.nationalww2museum.org