The storied “Anne Frank: The Exhibition” — replicating the home where Anne Frank hid and famously documented her life during the Holocaust in the Nazi-occupied Netherlands — will make its world premiere at the Center for Jewish History in honor of International Holocaust Remembrance Day on Jan. 27, the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz.
This is the first time the Anne Frank House exhibit, which honors the memory of Frank and the millions of lives lost during the Holocaust, will be presented outside of Amsterdam.
Visitors will have the opportunity to walk through an immersive, full-scale recreation of the secret annex where Frank and her family hid from Nazi persecution for over two years. This project has been undertaken by the Anne Frank House, an organization dedicated to keeping Anne’s legacy alive, in partnership with the Center for Jewish History.
Leaders behind the exhibition are expecting immense crowds to visit the Center for Jewish History, located in Chelsea in Manhattan, over the projects limited run, which extends until April 30, 2025. Prior to the opening, the event has already sold tens of thousands of tickets, underscoring the significant interest in this solemn part of history.
“The significance of the exhibit goes beyond its timeline in terms of the anniversary being commemorated,” Dr. Gavriel Rosenfeld, president of the Center for Jewish History, told amNewYork Metro. “There’s also the immediate political context of surging anti-Semitism worldwide and hatred towards other groups. If there’s one thing that is true of Anne Frank’s legacy, it is that she lived and died as a young Jewish girl, but her message of tolerance and universal acceptance resonates far beyond the Jewish community.”
As visitors walk throughout the display, they will learn about Anne’s family’s trajectory — from their early years in Frankfurt amid the rise of the Nazi regime to their eventual move to Amsterdam. Exhibition attendees can engage with artifacts never before seen in public, including Anne Frank’s first photo album, handwritten poems and letters to and from her father Otto Frank.
According to Michael Glickman, project manager and representative of the Anne Frank House, this show gives New Yorkers an up-close experience unlike anything before.
“Being able to bring the materials from Amsterdam and recreate the hiding place here speaks to the significance of why we have meticulously recreated the hiding place. It’s a comprehensive way to understand what happened and why,” he told amNewYork Metro. “This is entirely new. Everything you experience here is not the traditional way historical context gets presented in museums.”
As visitors walk in Anne Frank’s footsteps, they can connect emotionally and intellectually with her touching narrative — revealing her not only as a war victim but as a determined girl and gifted writer with dreams and aspirations.
In a time when rising antisemitism and bigotry are at the forefront of societal concerns, the exhibition serves as a critical platform for educating visitors about tolerance and understanding.
“We’re seeing a world that really needs Anne’s message and story in this moment,” Glickman said. “Every generation needs a new opportunity to explore what Anne wrote about in such a poignant, meaningful, and powerful way.”
The Anne Frank House has collaborated with various educational organizations to ensure students and educators can also benefit from this exhibition. Free or subsidized admission is offered to Title I public schools, with the goal of reaching 250,000 students through field trips and individual classes.
“I hope [visitors] leave thinking about what they can do to make the world a better place. That’s really what this is about,” Glickman said. “What can they say, what action can they take, how can they think about their neighbors and their friends and their colleagues?”
For those interested in attending, tickets can be purchased online at annefrankexhibit.org, where visitors can find details regarding hours and schedules. The exhibition is open to individuals ages 10 and up.
