Images Inside Anne Frank’s House

1. Picture Wall In Anne Frank's Room

Image source/ iamsterdamThis is a picture wall in the bedroom where Anne Frank lived and spent much of her time, we can see she made it more personal by sticking up photos. Anne Frank was a German girl, persecuted for being Jewish. Her and her family went into hiding to avoid persecution from the Nazis.

2. The Living Room Of The Frank Family

Image source/ iamsterdamThis is inside the living room/bedroom of the Frank family. If you look closely you can see the pencil marks which were drawn on the wallpaper to track Anne and Margot’s heights. They show that Anne grew 13 centimetres in two years’ time (at the age of 13) , and Margot grew just one centimetre.

3. Her Room In 1985

Here is a glimpse into Anne Frank’s room in 1958, where she previously stayed. This photo was taken in the house some years after she had died. Here it is without the wallpaper or the pictures, it has been stripped back so that it is just a bare room.

4. Peter Van Pel's Photos

These were two pictures that were found in Peter’s room (taken in 1954) The pictures have since disappeared. Peter van Pels was the son of Hermann and Auguste van Pels. His family fled Germany to the Netherlands in 1937. where they joined Anne Frank's family in their Secret Annexe in 1942. They remained with them there until 1944 when the group was betrayed.

5. Her Former Living Space

Image source/ AnneFrank.orgHere we can see her former living space in her house before they fled into hiding. Here there is space, something which was taken from them all along with their freedom as they hid in the annex. Anne Frank never got to return here, only her father managed to survive the concentration camps and the war.

6. Above The Warehouse

Image source/ AnneFrank.orgHere is another part of the secret annexe, somewhere those in hiding spent a lot of time. It was above a warehouse. So, when the men in the warehouse started their working day, hose in hiding had to walk around in socks making minimal noise which would seem suspicious.

7. Anne Frank's Shared Bedroom

Image source/ AnneFrank.orgAgain, here is a more detailed look at Anne's bedroom which she had to share of course. It has the photos up as they were when she decorated her room. Here Anne would do much of the writing in what became her globally famous diary and historical document.

8. The Bookcase That Hid The Entrance

Image source/ AnneFrank.orgThis is the bookcase hiding the staircase to the secret annex. This boockase was built by Johan Voskuijl, who worked in the warehouse at Opekta and Pectacon. In August 1942, he built the hinged bookcase so that it would hide the entrance to the Secret Annex.

9. One Of Four Rooms

Image source/ LuerzHere is one of the four small bedrooms which made up the secret annex. Many people had to share each room due to the fact that multiple people were hiding in one small space. Privacy was something that was not possible during these years due to the lack of space.

10. Having To Improvise

Image source/ iamsterdamHiding two families in one small space took a lot of improvising, especially when it came to using the space. There were set routines for washing. As we can see the sheets hanging here, Sunday's were often used as a day where things would be washed and clean ready for the new week.

11. Sharing The Toilet

Image source/ architectmagazineSimilarly, sharing the one toilet between everybody took planning. And, there wold be a morning routine where one person would go first and have a set amount of time. So that everybody was able to have their own time in the mornings. For example At 6:45 am, the alarm of Mr and Mrs Van Pels went off and Hermann van Pels got up first to put the kettle on and go to the bathroom for 15 minutes.

12. The Living Space

Image source/ architectmagazineHere is the living space inside Anne Frank's home. This is where Anne and her family would usually have spent their time, in their loving room. We can see most things still in position in this photo as they would have been before the war, before they were forced into hiding.

13. The Room Below The Secret Entrance

Image source/ architectmagazineHere is the room below the secret entrance. This is somewhere that you can visit today in Amsterdam, with its secrets and tragic past. The place which concealed those inside for around two years until they were betrayed and taken away to the concentration camps.

14. The Books She Loved To Read

<Image source/ weglintAs we can see, there is a book shelf full of books. Anne Frank loved to read and write. Through her diary it is clear she read literature which gave her a mind matured well above her age. In fact she heard on the radio that there was a need for personal accounts of the war, this is when she started editing her own diary.

15. Inside Her Former House

Image source/ AnneFrank.orgThis is a picture taken on November 16, 2017. It shows the room of Anne Frank in her former house which was situated in the Rivierenbuurt in Amsterdam. Of course now this house is a piece of history, the former house of Anne Frank who opened up everybody's eyes to the Holocaust.

16. The Secret Stairs

Image source/ architectmagazineThese were the secret stairs that led to the annex where they hid. Anne Frank spent 761 days here. Thanks to her diary we can construct information about her life here. For 761 days these stairs led to the space where she and her family and Peter's family hid and lived.

17. The Workspace Under The House

Image source/ architectmagazineThis is the view of the rooms below the secret annex, where people would come to work. Not only were they relying on their hiding place they were relying on those on the outside with the knowledge of there position to keep their secret. Which eventually as we know was betrayed.

18. A Kid's Record Player

Image source/ AnneFrank.orgThis is a music player, we can see it is for the children by the illustrations on the side. As we know Anne Frank was just 13 at the start of her hiding. Due to the perilousness of her circumstances and the maturity of her diary it is easy to forge that she was still just a young child.

19. The Makeshift Beds

Image source/ AnneFrank.orgOf course when the people went into hiding there was not enough space or resources foe everyone. They made what they could and made makeshift beds to be able to accommodate everyone. These would also act as sofa's and whatever else was needed for the time.

20. Inside The Bathroom

Image source/ AnneFrank.orgThis is the bathroom which was shared amongst many. We can see the bathroom with the belongings in Anne frank and her family. This shows the bathroom as it was in its original state. The house has been maintained as it was left as far as possible so that everything is preserved as was the reality of the time.

21. Restoring The Picture Wall

Image source/ AnneFrank.orgThis is a recent picture of what was recovered from the inside of the house. Restorative work is now being done to retain it  so that we can preserve history and keep it as close to its original state as possible. Everything is now an important artefact in a terrible period of history.

22. A Postcard From Edith

Image source/ AnneFrank.orgThis is a postcard which was found from Edith, to Anne Frank before the war. The two of them had a complicated relationship. In a part of her diary which was excluded she states 'I need my mother as an example which I can follow, I want to be able to respect her and thought my mother is an example to me in most things, but she is precisely the kind of example that I do not want to follow'.

23. The First Page Of Her Diary

Image source/ iamsterdamThis picture shoes the first page of the diary which Anne Frank receives for her 13th birthday in June 1942. This was the beginning of her journaling. Her father Otto, one of the only survivors of the eight was left with her words after she had died.

24. Pictures And Writings

And here her diary shows not only words but pictures included. It was thanks to her detail that we gained clarity on her situation. It was also highly personal, talking about her relationships with her parents and some sexual content which her father took out. He was shocked by the depth of her thoughts when he read it.

25. The Radio Where Those Hiding Would Gather Around

Image source/ iamsterdamHere was the radio that they used in the secret annex to keep up to date which what was happening on the outside world, what new updates there were on the war. Those in the annex would have set times where they would gather around and listen to the radio together.

26. Her Writing Desk And Diary

Image source/ iamsterdamThis red book was also where she did a lot of writing. In 1944, July 6 she write, "We're all alive, but we don't know why or what for; we're all searching for happiness; we're all leading lives which are different and yet the same". She was highly astute and aware for her age.

27. The Shared Bedroom

Image source/ iamsterdamAs we have discussed, the bedrooms had to be shared by multiple people all hiding in this little annex. For example Fritz Pfeffer joined the Frank families which brought the number of people in hiding up to eight. He had to share with Anne due to a lack of space.

28. The Outside View

Image source/ AnneFrank.orgThis is The Anne Frank House at Prinsengracht 263, in Amsterdam. Now a museum and a historical reminder of the tragedies and the terrible period of history from which is was lived in by the Franks. It now attracts millions of people who go to see where Anne Frank lived.

29. Her Ambitious Diary Entries

Image source/ iamsterdamThis diary entry was written October 10, 1942. Beside a photo of herself she write in the diary- 'This is a photograph of me as I wish I looked all the time. Then I might still have a chance of getting to Hollywood. But now I am afraid I usually look quite different."

30. The Marble Tin Collection

Image source/ iamsterdamThe Frank's before the war started were just a normal family with two children - one older and one younger. Their possessions although limited reflect those of any normal family. This tin of marbles that were found left in their home are the remainders of a family life lost through the holocaust.

31. Anne Frank's kitchen

Image source/ annefrankNow we can visit this kitchen, to see where Anne Frank and her family once used to live. In Amsterdam, it is open for the public to see, and it remains preserved. Of course, this kitchen was not used during the Holocaust, as the rest of the house was not.

32. The secret door

Image source/ photonshouseNow we can clearly see the secret door disguised as a bookcase. The bookcase is on a hinge, so that whenever someone enters or exits through it, it will spring back into place and hide the doorway again. Behind it, is the door which leads to the staircase right to the annex. 

33. The kitchen table

Image source/ New York PostThis photograph symbolises a time way before the Holocaust, when it was a family kitchen with a family once gathering around that table. Bowls on the table, a lamp on, pots and pans hanging over the stove. None of these were ever able to be shared by the whole family again.

34. Anne Frank's doll house

Image source/ PinterestWhen reading Anne Frank's diary, it is difficult to image that she was just a child, a young girl facing an unimaginable situation. This doll house belonging to her in her younger years serves as a reminder of the atrocities of the Holocaust and all those innocent lives which were stolen.

35. Some belongings found in the house

Image source/ The Israel TimesThese were some items that were found in the Frank's home. There was a paper of some sort with tickets on. A drink, and a notepad which we have previously seen. This is the infamous diary that belonged to Anne Frank. These are now protected and encased in glass for people to view.

36. The downstairs rooms

Image source/ flickrAgain, here in this photograph we can see more of the house and the homely comforts that would have once been used, before the Holocaust. The picture on the wall shows Anne Frank's mother, whom as we know had a very turbulent relationship with her daughter.

37. The dining table

Image source/ haroldkasperinkThis is the dining table of the Frank's house on the bottom floor. As it was, with bowls out that have been eaten, papers out having been read and people's belongings scattered around. This living space was far from what the conditions in the annex were like - all crammed together.

38. The steep set of stairs

Image source/ annefrankHere in this photograph, we can see just how steep the stairs were. These stairs are not the stairs to the secret annex, but they are the stairs to the second floor of the house. Occasionally people had to go up and down these in order to take more food up to the annex.

39. The toilet basin

Image source/ designboomThis is a makeshift toilet basis which was used in the secret annex. Emergency measures had to be built and put in place in order for everybody to be able to stay upstairs in the secret annex and away from view. This crude, toilet is exactly as it was then. It remained untouched and preserved.

40. Storage spaces

Image source/ anneherdenmeergenIf you look at the corner of this photograph, you can see the things that have been oiled up to store and ration amongst the people hidden in the secret annex. Provisions were hard to come by and they had to rely on the help of others to get them and keep them secret.

41. A clear outside view

 Image source/ felixwongThis is the outside view of the house from a very different perspective. This is a modern-day photo, taken long after the holocaust. But taken for the same reason, as the place where Anna Frank and her family and friend's hid during that horrendous period of history,

42. Books and folders

Image source/ PinterestIt is very moving when we see real life objects or photographs of the belongings of the Frank's stood just as they were in reality at the time. Here is a bookshelf full of different aged looking folders stacked side by side. Reminders of their lives which were lost.

43. Laundry baskets and pots

Image source/ The Japan TimesAs we discussed, laundry was a lengthy process during the holocaust where the family and friends hid in the secret annex. We can see the makeshift laundry line where the sheets are hung up and the pots used for the washing are stood on the floor below.

44. A little table seat window

Image source/ annefrankThis is a photo of another room inside the Frank's house. As we can see, there are multiple beds (including one makeshift bed) in the small room as well as a little table and chair set tucked in front of the window which was used to write and work.

45. Anne Frank's dress

Image source/ blogspotWe have previously had a glimpse into Anne Frank's bedroom. However here is one of her dresses hung up, one of her best frocks which would have been used on special occasions.  The dress is a kind of peachy pink with velvet material and a matching cardigan.

46. The big family room

Image source/ PinterestHere is a better look at one of the rooms which was used in the family home, before they were forced into hiding, this room has big windows. We can see it has been left in slight disarray in this photo with belongings stacked up in boxes at the side of the room,

47. The shared sink

Image source/ tripadvisorHere is the sink on the wall which was used by everybody hiding in the house. We can also see the high windows which helped during the hideout as they allowed light, but still kept people hidden. In this photo, there is a plaque written over the sink which was placed there after the war.

48. The partitioning wall

Image source/ blogspotWe have previously seen the entrance to the secret annex which is hidden behind this door/ bookcase. In this photograph now we can see the partitioning wall in-between which separated the hallway entrance from the kitchen and cupboard area as seen here.

49. The house emptied

Image source/ PinterestHere are the remnants of a room in Anne Frank's house. At this point in time it has all been cleared. However, what we are used to seeing is a room full of table chairs, pots and pans. Now we can see the outline of a fireplace and of kitchen cupboards.50. Blacked out windowsImage source/ iamsterdamThe windows in the house all had to be blocked, so that nobody could see who was hiding there. As we can see, the black papers cover the windows so that no light or people could be seen from within the house. We can also see the photographs covering the walls which have been encased in glass in later times.