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| You are here: 2000 / Other Activities / Task Force for holocaust Education, Remembrance and Research / Presentation by Mr. Hans Westra, Anne Frank House, the Netherlands | |||||||||
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Participants Countries and organizations Conference documentation Conference programme 
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Presentation of Institutions in the field of Holocaust Education in the Task Force Countries Presentation by Ms. Suzanne Bardgetts, Imperial War Museum, UK Presentation by Mr. Hans Westra, Anne Frank House, the Netherlands Task Force Declaration Task Force Briefing Presentation by Mr. Hans Westra, Anne Frank House, the Netherlands Westra, Hans Presentation by Hans Westra, Anne Frank House Twenty-five years ago, in 1975, the Anne Frank House was a museum that was quite well known internationally. Most of the 225.000 visitors that year were, like in other years, visitors from the USA. In 1974 the staff and the Board were quite upset about a new development; it was the first year since the opening of the museum in 1960 that the number of visitors had gone down. The discussion in the House was about survival: could the organisation survive if the visitors stayed away. Everybody involved was convinced that 30 years after the end of WW II public interest would fade away. Nobody foresaw at that moment that the Anne Frank House was at the beginning of a period of unbelievable growth. Traditionally the Netherlands commemorates the victims of WW II nationwide on the eve of the 4th of May. The next day, the 5th of May we celebrate nationally our liberation from the occupying forces of Nazi-Germany. Twenty five years ago the focus of the commemoration was on the heroic but hopeless fight of the Dutch army against the invasion of Nazi Germany in May 1940, the heroic fight of the Dutch resistance and the many victims of the war. Auschwitz-survivors who wanted to organise an Auschwitz-commemoration were regarded as dangerous communists. The same happened to people who were involved in the commemoration of the famous February-strike in Amsterdam in 1941. When you look at the Dutch newspapers that were published in 1975 it was often an exception to read about something related to WW II and the Holocaust. Only a few people really cared. For most people, not just in Holland, it was something far away in history. These are just three observations, but I could make many more to illustrate how much has changed in a relatively short period of time in the world we live in, in Dutch society and not forgetting: my organisation, the Anne Frank House. To illustrate this specific point: last year the number of visitors of the Anne Frank House was more than 810.000, mostly young people from all over the world. The past 25 years many things concerning WW II have changed in Dutch public awareness. Most people in the Netherlands still have have enormous respect for the people that were active in the resistance, Dutchmen who were fighting on the side of the allied forces and people who risked their lives by helping Jews. But most people realise now that there was a disturbing amount of collaboration in the Netherlands under Nazi-occupation and that most Dutchman tried to survive by just minding their own business. We all know now that Holland had the highest percentage of loss of Jewish lives of Western Europe. It would not suprise me if some of you here have been to Amsterdam and have visited the Anne Frank House. Those of you who visited the House from 1995 onwards must have suffered from the buildingactivities that started in the beginning of that year and lasted till September last year. The growth of the number of visitors to the Anne Frank House was something to be verypleased about, but lead to a growing worry in terms of safety and service to our public. However the most important reason for the changes in the Anne Frank House was that it became increasingly difficult to give young people an impression of how it was, almost 60 years ago, to have to go into hiding, being afraid of discovery and for your life every minute of the day. Why people were forced to go into hiding and how extremely difficult and dangerous it was to organise such a thing. When you go through the Anne Frank House now you take a walk back into time. We have reconstructed the front-part of the House. On the walls citations from the diary of Anne Frank tell the story of the 8 people that were in hiding in that House between July 1942 and August 1944, the story of the people that tried to save them and about the dangers from the outside world. Video-films, old photographs and a few objects that belonged to Anne endorse this and the other people involved. We do not give a History lesson. We want people to identify with what happened in this historic place. At the end of the tour through the House people can use a CD-ROM system that enables you to make a virtual tour through the House as it must have been in 1942-1944 and that answers all the questions that you might have. If you are interested: a Dutch copy can be seen in the Dutch presentation outside. The Anne Frank House is more than a museum: the House is an educational institution that has activities inside but also outside the museum. We receive hundreds of groups in the House for an educational program, but we also develop educational materials for Dutch schools. Each spring more that 60% of the Dutch primary schools make use of this material. Many of you will have seen one of the travelling exhibitions. ”Anne Frank in the World” has reached some 7 million visitors since its launch in 1985. ”Anne Frank a History for Today” started in 1996. Some 15 examples are travelling around the world. I started with a few observations and I would like to conclude with a few. You never walk alone. In the Netherlands over the years a wide range of colleague-institutions have developed that together offer quite a complete image of the history of the Netherlands between May 1940 and May 1945. To mention just a few: The Dutch Theatre, connected to the Jewish Historical Museum The camps Westerbork and Vucht Resistance museums in different regions There is active support from survivors and former resistance-fighters Work of the Foundation Adopt a Monument The Dutch government has become increasingly active. Very important is government support for: The work of the Netherlands Institute for War Documentation The National Comittee 4th and 5th May The Dutch Theater, Westerbork and Vucht Projects on Holocaust education And finally: I am extremely glad with the active participation of the Dutch government in the International Taskforce, supported by a national workgroup. I really welcome this conference to exchange experiences and ideas and to welcome our governments as a permanent partner. Thank you for your attention. >> Back to top |
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Introduction Opening Session: Messages and speeches Plenary Sessions: Messages and speeches Workshops, Panels and Seminars Closing Session and Declaration Other Activities
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| For information about this production and the Stockholm International Forum Conference Series please go to www.humanrights.gov.se or contact Information Rosenbad, SE-103 33 Stockholm, Sweden | |||||||||