Anne Frank exhibition opens

The Anne Frank - A History for Today exhibition kicked off at the Shanghai Jewish Refugees Museum on January 23.

The exhibition, which tells of the story of the late Jewish woman Annelies Marie Frank, one of the most prominent victims of the Holocaust, will run for a year. It is co-funded by the Consulate General of the Kingdom of the Netherlands and the Shanghai Jewish Refugees Museum.

Organized by the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam, the exhibition features 32 exhibition boards in both English and Chinese which tell the story of her childhood in Frankfurt and Amsterdam. Many of the photos on display, which depict the lives of the Jewish community during World War II, are being exhibited for the first time in Shanghai.

"The girl was sending a message that racism, indifference and lack of courage can destroy individuals and families. Shanghai could well resonate with the message because it once served as a safe harbour for Jewish people," said Anneke Adema, Consul General of the Netherlands in Shanghai.

According to historical records, about 23,000 Jews found solace in Shanghai after they fled Nazi-occupied Europe during World War II.

Born in June 1929, Frank came into prominence only after her death in 1945 when her diary documenting her life during the German occupation of the Netherlands was discovered and published in a book titled The Diary of a Young Girl.

According to her diary accounts, Frank and her family started seeking refuge in a secret annex in the Prinsengracht 263 building in July 1942, with the door to this annex hidden behind a bookcase. Frank and her family were later arrested by the Gestapo in August 1944.

Her father Otto Frank, who was the only survivor, returned to Amsterdam after the Germans were defeated and found that one of his helpers had saved Frank's diary. He worked to have the diary published in Dutch in 1947 before an English version was released in 1952. The Diary of a Young Girl has since been translated into 60 languages.

Anne was only 15 when she died of typhus in the German concentration camp of Bergen-Belsen.

yuran@chinadaily.com.cn