Exhibit is Frankly inspiring

Published Aug 20, 2014

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Cape Town - Her words have inspired millions of people around the world and now a three-day exhibition on world famous diarist Anne Frank will not only unpack her life and legacy, but aspire to give local young people food for thought.

Anne Frank – A History for Today has travelled the world and starts at Muizenberg High School this week, where the tour guides – all pupils at the school – will help to bring the Jewish teenager’s story to life.

Anne, her family and four other people hid in the secret annex of an Amsterdam building for more than two years during World War II to avoid capture by the Nazis. They were arrested in 1944 and deported to concentration camps. Anne’s father, Otto, was the only one who survived the camps.

“The exhibition goes beyond the writings in Anne’s diary,” says Tracey Petersen, director of education at the Cape Town Holocaust Centre,

“It tells the Frank family’s story before the war, what it was like for them to be in hiding and what was happening in Europe as the genocidal murders began.

“It also focuses on their capture and what happened thereafter.”

The exhibition, which was compiled by the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam, is on permanent loan to the Cape Town Holocaust Centre and through partnerships is presented at schools and other venues in the province.

August 4 marked 70 years since Anne’s capture, but Petersen says the world still grapples with many of the same issues.

“Prejudice, racism and injustice are still alive. We hope that the visitors to the exhibition will be challenged to think about strategies… to fight injustice and what they can do to defend democracy. It (the exhibition) reminds us that we have a responsibility to our fellow human beings.”

Petersen says a 3D model of the house the group of eight hid in was built by prisoners in England and will help give visitors an understanding of just how they managed to hide for more than two years.

The exhibition, hosted by the metro south education district, also includes screenings of a documentary, The Short Life of Anne Frank.

Sharmini Naidoo, curriculum adviser for tourism in the education district, says she approached the Holocaust Centre about staging the exhibition after it was a huge success at a school in Durban where she had previously worked.

 

She says Muizenberg High offers tourism as a subject and a group of pupils, trained by the Holocaust Centre, will walk visitors, including school groups, through the exhibition.

“In Durban I saw how being guides for the exhibition helped the learners to come out of their shells. This exhibition will not only benefit tourism pupils, who will be gaining valuable experience and a confidence boost. For some of the pupils who will visit, the book is their set work for the year. Others are covering World War II in history or are discussing her story in social sciences. So it will benefit a range of pupils.”

Muizenberg High pupil Nicole Hanslo says she has been touched by the story of Anne Frank and is excited to have the opportunity to share it with others.

“I can relate to her story. Many of the things that were happening back then are still happening today.”

Nicole says the exhibition gives visitors, who may not be able to visit the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam, the opportunity to take a walk through her life.

Grade 11 pupil Aidan Leonard says he is honoured to serve as guide at an exhibition on the life of someone who has inspired him.

“I hope the other pupils who come to the exhibition will see just what prejudice and racism can lead to,” says Aidan.

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