{"id":47885,"date":"2025-11-07T01:53:55","date_gmt":"2025-11-07T09:53:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/?p=47885"},"modified":"2025-11-06T09:54:41","modified_gmt":"2025-11-06T17:54:41","slug":"anne-frank-exhibit-on-now","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/2025\/11\/07\/anne-frank-exhibit-on-now\/","title":{"rendered":"Anne Frank exhibit on now"},"content":{"rendered":"

Created in 1995, the traveling exhibit A<\/span><\/i>nne Frank: A History for Today is on display roughly 300 times a year. Mainly for school groups, people can visit the exhibit at Seaforth Armoury Nov. 11. <\/i>(photo from Anne Frank House)<\/i><\/i><\/p>\n

The traveling exhibit Anne Frank: A History for Today, hosted by the Consulate General of the Netherlands, is at Seaforth Armoury until Nov. 21. An opportunity for school groups to learn about Anne\u2019s story and the legacy of her diary, the exhibit tours have already sold out, but the public is welcome to visit on Remembrance Day, Nov. 11.<\/p>\n

While this is not the first time the exhibit has been in Vancouver, its presence at the armoury and museum is poignant. Started in 1920 by Scottish Canadians, infantry from the Seaforth Highlanders were on the ground in Amsterdam on May 8, 1945. They entered the city as part of the Allies\u2019 liberating force.<\/p>\n

Following months of battles and Germany\u2019s surrender, the Seaforth Highlanders offered humanitarian aid to the city\u2019s population. The close ties between the regiment and the people of the Netherlands are commemorated every year.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The school tours at Seaforth Armoury are led by volunteers trained by Phyllis Lewis, a staff member of Anne Frank House, said the house\u2019s director of Canadian activities, John Kastner.<\/p>\n

Arriving on Nov. 5, the exhibit required about six people half a day to set up, then there was peer training. The response to the call for volunteers was excellent, said Kastner, as has been the level of interest from local schools.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think the premise is from Anne Frank House in Amsterdam \u2013 there\u2019s real value for people to become ambassadors of the message. People that are close to the same age as Anne are particularly effective when it comes to relaying the message of the diary,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Not all the exhibit\u2019s stops are in metropolitan areas. Kastner described its journey to Anne Frank Public School in Vaughan, part of the Greater Toronto Area, then it went to Marathon, a mining community on the shore of Lake Superior, then to All Saints High School in Toronto, before being displayed at Ottawa\u2019s Beechwood Cemetery (Canada\u2019s national military cemetery) and the Dutch consulate in Vancouver, which sponsored it.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

And the exhibition will keep moving, said Kastner. \u201cIt\u2019s been very busy in 2025 \u2013 demand has been very steady and it has hardly been in storage at all.\u201d<\/p>\n

Created in 1995, the Canadian exhibitions are just some of the many around the world, in languages including Albanian, Arabic, Bengali, Bosnian, Korean, Macedonian and two forms of Portuguese. In total, the exhibit is on display roughly 300 times a year.<\/p>\n

Paired with a 30-minute film, Who was Anne Frank?, the tour takes about 90 minutes. It comprises 11 panels of information that are the same worldwide and the 12th panel is curated specifically for the region. The version that arrived in Vancouver this week references the liberation of Amsterdam and all the panels are in both English and French, which is the case for all the Canadian showings, though the exhibit for northern Ontario is also in Inuktitut.<\/p>\n

The docents bear a responsibility as ambassadors for Anne\u2019s legacy and message, said Kastner. \u201cYou want people who are in classrooms, at dinner tables, in peer groups at schools, who are aware of the story, that become advocates of fairness, opponents of racism, opponents of prejudice, and we really see it in real life \u2013 that those docents become docents of the message of Anne Frank House.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery generation that comes through, you create a new generation that becomes familiar with the story and the messaging of Anne Frank \u2013 not only what she went through, but her optimism in a world surrounded by hate, prejudice and violence\u2026. As people go through the exhibit, they become aware of what an important story it is,\u201d said Kastner. \u201cThey come to realize that it is, by definition, a history for today \u2013 that it has relevance in today\u2019s society.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"photo<\/a>
Anne Frank, in 1941. The traveling exhibit Anne Frank: A History for Today is at Seaforth Armoury until Nov. 21. (photo from Anne Frank House)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Kastner spoke about his personal connection to Anne\u2019s remarkable outlook and values, referencing her often-quoted diary entry of July 15, 1944: \u201cIn spite of everything, I still believe that people are really good at heart.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI wish we could all be as optimistic as Anne was,\u201d he said. \u201cIt was remarkable.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere have been many periods since the Second World War when we\u2019ve had many reasons to be pessimistic, and that\u2019s why it\u2019s a history for today. It\u2019s a recurring message that continues. After 75 years, it still has relevance.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kastner praised the design of the exhibit, calling it \u201cfantastic.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a timeline ribbon that goes down the centre \u2026 the date and the year. Above the ribbon is what is happening in the world politically at the time. Below the ribbon is how it\u2019s impacting people \u2013 Anne, her family and everybody else,\u201d he explained. \u201cThe idea is that [some people think] what you see on the news doesn\u2019t really matter…. This says, it should matter, it does make a difference. And that creates an awareness of current events, of being involved \u2026 of speaking out. Even in minor cases of prejudice, it\u2019s problematic and [can lead] to a greater problem.\u201d<\/p>\n

When talking about this idea in Marathon, Kastner gave the example of name-calling. \u201cCalling someone a name, a slur, we can see it as problematic but not the end of the world,\u201d he said. Or, \u201cgraffiti on a kid\u2019s locker, that\u2019s not very nice, but it\u2019s not the end of the world \u2013 but it leads to a huge problem when [such actions] become the norm.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kastner spoke highly of the 3D model of the house, which is \u201cone of the great learning tools that goes with the exhibit.\u201d There is power in asking teenagers, \u201cWho can tell us where Anne slept?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I went to Anne Frank House to work there, where my workspace was, I\u2019d be looking at the courtyard and at the Annex, looking at the tree, and it\u2019s absolutely surreal,\u201d he said. \u201cBeing in the presence of that kind of history. There\u2019s no replacement for that.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s the same tree Anne would have seen.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019d be in her father\u2019s office at the warehouse and there are all sorts of people traipsing through the house,\u201d he said, and he\u2019d think about \u201chow you [would have] had to be deathly quiet, completely stationary, because people were using that office.\u201d<\/p>\n

Certain questions come up time and again. Students want to know how the Holocaust started, for example.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Holocaust didn\u2019t start with people getting loaded on trains,\u201d Kastner explains to the kids. \u201cThe Holocaust started with all sorts of things that Anne talks about \u2013 her bike being taken away, not being allowed to swim in the public pool, not being allowed to take public transit, then extended to larger things. Her dad not being allowed to have a job or own property.\u2026 It starts by slow increments.\u201d<\/p>\n

At Anne Frank Public School in Vaughan, the kids asked Kastner how Anne\u2019s diary got published. He described the return of Anne\u2019s father, Otto Frank, to the Annex, which had not changed since the day their hiding place was discovered. He told the students that Miep Gies, who had helped hide Anne and her family, \u201chad taken the diary after the Nazis had left and kept it, gave it to Otto and he read through it and then said, I should publish this.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kastner said the kids marvel at the serendipity, the turn of events that led to \u201cone of the most important books written by somebody under the age of 16.\u201d He added, \u201cThe kids say that it\u2019s amazing that [Otto] survived, that he got the book, that somebody wanted to publish it and then the idea that it\u2019s become standard reading for millions of kids 70 years later.\u201d<\/p>\n

During the exhibition\u2019s stop at Beechwood Cemetery, Kastner recalled two students asking him, \u201cWhat is it about Jewish people? Why do they pick on Jewish people?\u201d And, \u201cWhy didn\u2019t somebody do something?<\/p>\n

Kastner explained the scapegoat theory to these students. \u201cIt\u2019s in Shakespearian plays, it\u2019s throughout history: the idea of a common enemy often solidifies a group,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Each exhibition site brings different opportunities for learning, said Kastner. Getting it to remote locations can be tough but it\u2019s worthwhile. Shipping the panels to Marathon, for example, was challenging, but Kastner applauded the motivation of the school there as \u201cvery noble and progressive.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery place it goes, it has a different impact and it\u2019s going there for a different reason,\u201d said Kastner of the exhibition.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe message,\u201d he said, \u201cis in Anne\u2019s experience, Anne\u2019s death \u2013 that<\/i> has relevance in today\u2019s society.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Shula Klinger <\/b>is an author and journalist living in North Vancouver.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Created in 1995, the traveling exhibit Anne Frank: A History for Today is on display roughly 300 times a year. Mainly for school groups, people can visit the exhibit at Seaforth Armoury Nov. 11. (photo from Anne Frank House) The traveling exhibit Anne Frank: A History for Today, hosted by the Consulate General of the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":47887,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[7104,1290,24433,3076,22276,4242,53,24432,24431,3189],"class_list":["post-47885","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-local","tag-amsterdam","tag-anne-frank","tag-anne-frank-house","tag-education","tag-exhibits","tag-history","tag-holocaust","tag-john-kastner","tag-seaforth-armoury","tag-second-world-war"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":8}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47885","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=47885"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47885\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/47887"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=47885"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=47885"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=47885"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}