On January 24, the New York City Council passed a resolution designating January 27 as “Auschwitz Remembrance Day” to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the infamous Auschwitz concentration camp during World War II.
Simultaneously, the Center for Jewish History in New York City opened to the public for the first time a comprehensive exhibition reenacting the secret annex of Anne Frank, the author of “The Diary of Anne Frank.” The exhibit reconstructed, to scale, the room in which Anne Frank hid for two years in Amsterdam to escape persecution.
Both events aim to commemorate the 1.5 million Jewish individuals who perished at the hands of the Nazis during World War II. The initiator of the resolution, Eric Dinowitz, Chairman of the Jewish Core Group of the City Council, emphasized the importance of addressing the escalating hate crimes against the Jewish community in the current environment.
“The approaching solemn day reminds us that with each passing year, we are losing the voices of Holocaust survivors, who warn us of the evils unleashed when anti-Semitism is left unchecked in the public domain,” Dinowitz stated in a released statement. He assured that with this resolution, all New Yorkers would know that the City Council will never forget.
Following the horrific attack by Hamas terrorists massacring thousands of Jewish individuals on October 7, 2023, anti-Semitic sentiments resurfaced in New York City. Incidents of attacks on Jewish citizens and the display of anti-Jewish slogans and symbols, reminiscent of Hitler, became more prevalent on the streets. According to data from the New York City Police Department, hate crimes motivated by anti-Semitism account for more than half of all hate crimes in the city.
“It is heartbreaking that after 80 years since the liberation of Auschwitz, the firsthand witnesses of the horrors there are becoming scarce,” noted Keith Powers, a co-sponsor of the resolution and City Council member. He emphasized the duty to carry the history of what happened 80 years ago at Auschwitz and to tell the stories of those who were ruthlessly killed and tortured, ensuring that such atrocities are never forgotten and never repeated.
The exhibition presented at the Center for Jewish History offers a panoramic view of Anne Frank, her family, and four other Jewish residents hiding together from the Nazis in Amsterdam, outside of the annex where Anne Frank lived. Visitors have the opportunity to experience Anne’s life during that time.
Anne Frank, known to Chinese readers for her diary, was born into a Jewish family in Frankfurt, Germany, and later moved to the Netherlands with her family to escape Nazi persecution. Following the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands, Anne and her family sought refuge in a secret annex in her father’s workplace building. Eventually, they were betrayed, leading to Anne’s arrest by the Nazis and subsequent imprisonment at Auschwitz and later Bergen-Belsen concentration camps, where she tragically passed away at the age of 15.
After World War II, Anne Frank’s diary became a part of school curricula worldwide, and she was recognized in the 1999 Time magazine list of the “100 Most Important People of the Century.”
The new exhibition at the “Anne Frank House” in New York is open from Sunday to Thursday from 9:30 AM to 7:30 PM, on Fridays from 9:30 AM to 3:30 PM, and closed on Saturdays. Entry is every 20 minutes. Ticket prices range from $21 on regular days to $27 on holidays, with a reduced cost for children aged 17 and under at $16 and $22 respectively.
The exhibition is located at the Center for Jewish History, 15 W 16th St, New York, NY. For more information, visit: https://www.annefrankexhibit.org/