The Anne Frank House, Where Anne's Father Otto Operated a Spice Business Before Using It

AMSTERDAM, Netherlands (Achieve3000, June 25, 2007). Many are familiar with the story of Anne Frank, the young Jewish girl who wrote a diary while hiding from the Nazis in Amsterdam during World War II. The Diary of Anne Frank was first published in 1947 and subsequently translated into 65 languages. Through it, millions of people have learned about the Holocaust, the persecution of Jews during that time, and about Anne herself. Now, we have the opportunity to learn even more. Anne Frank's first cousin, Bernhard "Buddy" Elias, has donated his personal collection of thousands of letters, photographs, and documents to the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam, Netherlands.

The Anne Frank House, where Anne's father Otto operated a spice business before using it to hide his family and four others from the Nazis, was converted into a museum in 1960. The museum honors the life of Anne Frank and her family and also serves as an exhibition space to teach about all forms of persecution and discrimination.

Elias, 82, donated the collection in honor of the 60th anniversary of the first publication of The Diary of Anne Frank, originally published in Dutch by Anne's father as The Annex. "This is very moving for me," said Elias as he presented the collection to Hans Westra, the director of the museum. Now, with Elias' collection, the Anne Frank House will possess nearly all known historical materials relating to the Frank family.

The collection provides little new information about the Frank family. Yet it does include many previously unseen photographs from the late 1890s of the Frank family in their home city of Frankfurt, Germany. It also includes a letter from Johannes Kleiman, a close family friend who was helping to hide the Franks in Amsterdam, written to members of the Frank family living in Switzerland in 1942. In the letter Kleiman obliquely hints that the Franks were still alive. Also included in the collection is a letter from Otto Frank, written in 1945, informing his mother in Switzerland that his daughters Anne and Margot and his wife Edith had died in Nazi concentration camps.

Anne's notebooks were rescued hours after the arrest of Anne and her family in August 1944 by Miep Gies, an employee of Otto Frank's. Gies gave the notebooks to Otto when Frank returned to Amsterdam after the war. Anne died in March 1945 at age 15 in the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp, two weeks before the camp was liberated. When Otto died in 1980, his collection of Anne's things was passed to Elias. Elias feels that the value of his collection is in providing a window into the Frank family. It reveals much about Anne's writing talent and the family's love of learning and culture. "They spoke four languages," said Elias. "They were interested in art, in theater. When they went to a concert, or a play, they wrote about it. That's all in these letters." Peter Toebak, who spent two years organizing the collection, agrees. "There's a literary tradition in this family," said Toebak, which probably contributed to Anne's talent for writing.

Toebak said the collection may contain some surprises that historians could discover when they begin to delve into the files.

1. According to the article, why did Buddy Elias donate his collection of Frank family memorabilia to the Anne Frank House? To clear up misconceptions about how Anne and her family lived during their two years of hiding To provide historians with evidence that Anne and her family lived in the house for two years To encourage people to read the neglected version of Anne's diary known as The Annex To celebrate the 60th anniversary of the first publication of The Diary of Anne Frank 2. Which of these is most important to include in a summary of this article? The description of the letters Buddy Elias had in the collection he donated to the museum The description of how Buddy Elias felt when he presented his collection to the museum The number of years Peter Toebak spent organizing Buddy Elias's collection The number of languages into which Anne's diary has been translated 3. The article states: Anne died in March 1945 at age 15 in the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp, two weeks before the camp wasliberated. Which would be the closest synonym for the word liberated? Entrusted Compensated Compressed Emancipated 4. What is this article mainly about? The donation of historical material relating to the Frank family by a close relative The revelation that the Frank family loved learning and culture The affects of the Nazi persecution of the Jews during World War II The liberation of the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp shortly after Anne died 5. Which question is not answered by this article? How many people hid in the house along with the Frank family? What motivated Buddy Elias to donate his collection to the museum? Who rescued Anne's notebooks and gave them to Otto Frank? Are there any surviving members of the Frank family besides Buddy Elias? 6. The article states: "There's a literary tradition in this family," said Toebak, which probably contributed to Anne's talent for writing. Which would be the closest synonym for the word literary? Sublime Scholarly Sluggish Secretive 7. Based on the article, the reader can predict that ______. A close examination of the donated documents will reveal considerable new information about the Franks. A new edition of The Diary of Anne Frank will be published now that more historical materials are available. Only historians will be allowed to view the recently donated materials because of their personal nature. Visitors to the museum will learn about Anne and her family by viewing documents from Buddy's collection. 8. Which of these happened after the first publication of The Diary of Anne Frank? The house where the Frank family hid for two years was converted into a museum. Otto Frank wrote a letter informing his mother of the death of his wife and daughters. Johannes Kleiman wrote a letter to Frank family members. The Bergen-Belsen concentration camp was liberated.