The Anne Frank House (Amsterdam) and the Wellington Museum (Waterloo) decided to join this celebration and launch a joint exhibition project to be shown over a period of eight months at the Wellington Museum, allowing a great number of visitors, mainly students, to reflect on the history of Nazi Germany, the Occupation during the second world war in Europe and the Holocaust.

The exhibition "Anne Frank, a history for today" will reveal Anne Frank’s life story within its historical context. Groups will be accompanied by guides, trained by the Anne Frank House. While walking through the exhibition, visitors will led to question the process that resulted in the Holocaust and to reflect upon the impact of past issues on today’s reality.

Genocide and crimes against humanity are still part of today’s world; nationalism, racism and anti-Semitism have not disappeared following the military victory Nazi Germany in 1945. "What happened, can happen again" (Primo Levi “If This Is a Man”) and has already reappeared in other forms, as in Bosnia and the former Yugoslavia after 1991 and in Rwanda in 1994. We aim at alerting the public to the urgent need of commitment to relentlessly act to protect for the values of Democracy and Human Rights.

On January 27, 1945, the Soviet army freed a handful of survivors at the Auschwitz camp: among them, Otto Frank, Anne Frank’s father, the only survivor of the eight underground residents of the Annex in Amsterdam.  He found his daughter’s diary and had it published: it was translated in 80 different languages and became a worldwide bestseller.

The  project, submitted to the Wellington Museum in Waterloo, was designed by the Anne Frank House to make younger generations aware and help them reflect on the events that led to the systematic murder of millions of people, including one million and a half children, so that nobody can ever again "we did not know”.

In addition to the Anne Frank Exhibition, the Wellington Museum will address the subject of "civilian life during the Occupation in Belgium”.

The Wellington Museum will show life conditions for the Belgian population under the German boot through a number of different topics such as the application of curfews, recreation activities, food and ration coupons, the German invasion, the deportation, the resistance...

A great variety of themes aimed at providing food for thought and debate.

 In fact, we intend to make visitors of the exhibition, and schoolchildren in particular, aware of the tragedies of WWII, the suffering imposed on young innocent victims, the Holocaust and the occupation of Belgium.

The Wellington Museum will also hold a number of conferences and presentations.

In partnership with various museums and associations, we shall conclude the visit with a presentation on general Human Rights and Children’s Rights more specifically, allowing schoolchildren to take an active part in the debates.

Prior to the visit, teachers will receive educational brochures.  

We do not wish to condemn or judge any of the parties involved in the war but we want to alert the public to the dangers and consequences of all types of violence.

This exhibition will make children understand how fortunate they are to live in Europe where they enjoy freedom, increased legal protection and life conditions conducive to their personal development.  And it will also make them realize the significance of managing conflicts and the future part they can play in bringing peace to the world.