Every day, long lines form in front of the entrance to no. 267, the old canal house which is one of Amsterdam’s best-known and most visited museums. It was here that Anne Frank and her family hid from the Nazis for two years, until in 1944 she was discovered and transported to Bergen-Belsen concentration camp.
The difficulties of surviving in a very small space, completely cut off from the outside world, were recorded by the 14-year-old in her diary, which has since been translated into over 50 languages and is one of the most heart-rending testimonies to the persecution of the Jews in Nazi-occupied Europe. Even today, visitors enter the hiding place at the back of the house through a door (disguised as a cupboard) from the former offices and storerooms. The fittings have been preserved in their original condition. The front of the house was restored in 1957, and contains informational material and also various displays covering the course of World War II.