ENGLISH CORNER, CON LINDA JIMÉNEZ – This week’s trivia question: Why are the rooms in the Anne Frank House empty of furniture?

Anne Frank was a Jewish girl living in Amsterdam who went into hiding with seven other people to escape from the Nazis during World War II. They all took refuge in a hidden annex of her father’s business premises, and were helped by some of his employees, until they were betrayed and deported to concentration camps. During the two years that they were in hiding, Anne wrote a diary and short stories, and she developed into a talented writer. The only survivor was Anne’s father Otto, who returned to Amsterdam after the war and arranged for his daughter’s diary to be published as a book.

In cooperation with Otto Frank, the Anne Frank House was set up as a charitable, independent, non-profit organization dedicated to the preservation and opening to the public of Anne Frank’s hiding place and to bring her life story to the attention of as many people as possible worldwide.

We recently visited the Anne Frank House and spoke with Annemarie Bekker of the Communications Department.