Anne Frank Exhibition to Open in New York: Main Exhibit to Feature Full-Scale Replica of Her Family's Secret Hideout

A full-scale replica of the secret hideout where young Jewish writer Anne Frank hid from Nazi occupiers during World War II is to go on display in New York, reports AP.

A replica of the rooms will be on display at the Anne Frank The Exhibition at the Center for Jewish History in Manhattan.

The exhibition will open on January 27, International Holocaust Remembrance Day, the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz. Tickets are available here.

History of the shelter

In July 1942, Anne Frank, then 13, her parents Otto and Edith, and her 16-year-old sister Margot hid in a secret hiding place. A week later, they were joined by the van Pels family – Hermann, Auguste, and their 15-year-old son Peter. Four months later, Fritz Pfeffer moved into the hiding place to avoid capture by the German occupiers in the Netherlands.

They remained in the secret annex until they were discovered in 1944 and sent to the Auschwitz concentration and death camp. Anne and her sister Margot were then transferred to the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp, where they both died of typhus in February 1945. Anne was 15 years old.

Her father Otto, the only person from the camp to survive the Holocaust, published Anne's diary after the war. The diary became a worldwide sensation as a symbol of hope and resilience in the face of tyranny.

A fascinating exhibition

Anne Frank The Exhibition in New York promises to be an immersive, interactive experience for visitors.

Exhibition will highlight the story of Anne's family from their time in Germany, their move to the Netherlands and their decision to go into hiding until their discovery by the Nazis, their deportation, Anne's death and her father's post-war decision to publish her diary.

"With this exhibition, we are trying to get our visitors to know Anne not only as a victim, but also as a teenager, as a writer, as a symbol of resilience and strength. We hope they will reflect on the context that shaped her life," said exhibition director Ronald Leopold.

Among the 125 exhibits that are traveling from Amsterdam to exhibition in New York, there are photographs, albums, artifacts. For example, visitors will be able to see one of the yellow stars that Jews were ordered to wear in occupied Netherlands, as well as the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress, which Shelley Winters won for her role in George Stevens' 1959 film The Diary of Anne Frank.