Anne Frank

If she had lived yesterday would have been Anne Frank’s birthday. Her full name was Annelies Marie Frank. She was born in Frankfurt, Germany in 1929 and her family moved to Amstetrdam, The Netherlands in 1933.

She died in a German concentration camp along with her sister. She had wanted Dutch citizenship, but instead she and her family were turned in by the Dutch. She would be a really old lady now, but it is entirely possible she would still be alive if she had not gone to the Nazi concentration camp.

I lived in Frankfurt, Germany for several years and then many years later I lived in The Netherlands for fifteen years. I’ve been to the Anne Frank house in Amsterdam several times.

Overall I would say that the top tourist attractions in Amsterdam are the canals (which are free to visit), the Anne Frank house, and the museum which houses the artwork of the lunatic painter Vincent Van Gogh. I guess for young people visiting Amsterdam going to a coffee shop is also high on the list.

It is not much talked about among the Dutch, but it is common knowledge that some of the jews from Amsterdam who had been sent to concentration camps did survive world war II. But when they returned home to Amsterdam to reclaim their houses and businesses their prior neighbours claimed not to know them. Because their property had been taken (stolen) by the local Dutch Christians. Honest.

After living there so many years I know the Dutch very well. One of the weaknesses of the Dutch culture and character is placing far too much emphasis on making money. Even to the point of doing immoral or unethical things.

Please check out the web site of the Anne Frank house in Amsterdam. This place is sacred: http://www.annefrank.org/content.asp

And here is the link for the wikipedia site on Anne Frank: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anne_Frank