For the first time, since 1960, when the original Anne Frank Museum opened in Amsterdam, Anne Frank the Exhibition made its worldwide debut in New York City on International Holocaust Remembrance Day, Monday, January 27, 2025; in honor of the 80th commemoration of the liberation of Auschwitz.
Located at the Center for Jewish History on 15 West 16th Street in Manhattan, this 7,500 square foot exhibit has five different galleries and a mezzanine filled with over 100 artifacts including a hand-written verse from Anne, a photo album that belonged to the late teen, the Academy Award actress Shelley Winters won for her role in the 1959 film The Diary of Anne Frank, and seven seconds of actual film showing Anne outside her window while a wedding took place nearby.
“Bringing this exhibit to New York was an opportunity to expand the Anne Frank House in a powerful way,” Executive Director Ronald Leopold tells New York Lifestyles Magazine. “This has also been a highly emotional project,” Leopold adds, “because of how important New York City was for Anne’s father, Otto Heinrich Frank.”
Leopold goes on to explain how Otto worked in Manhattan in the 1920’s. He was also connected to the Straus family, the co-owners of the Macy’s Department store. In addition to Otto’s professional ties, New York is also where Anne’s other relatives fled during the 1930’s and where Otto tried to get a visa for his family but could not because it was too late to leave where they resided.
Another interesting fact, after the war ended, much of Anne’s legacy including her diary came from the United States. Anne’s diary was published was in 1947 and then again in 1950 and 1952 in lots of different countries. Today, The Diary of Anne Frank is globally still one of the most treasured books and Anne›s carefully thought-out words still resonate with people in a powerful way.
Anne’s diary was so popular, it sparked the 1955 Broadway play at The Cort Theater (now known as The James Earl Jones Theater) on West 48th Street starring Joseph Schildkraut as Otto and Susan Strasberg as Anne who was nominated for a Tony Award at age 18. Before the final performance in 1957, The Diary of Anne Frank won major awards, including the Pulitzer Prize for Drama, the Tony Award for Best Play and the New York Drama Critics› Circle Award for Best Play.
Joseph would later go on to star in the 1959 film adaptation, which earned him a Golden Globe nomination and co-star alongside newcomer Millie Perkins as Anne.
In 1997, the revival of The Diary of Anne Frank returned to The Great White Way at The Music Box Theater on West 45th Street starring Natalie Portman and the late Linda Lavin.
Leopold says, “The Big Apple exhibit is an immersed experience and will make spectators feel as if they were really there with Anne since the key element is constructing a full-scale replica of Anne’s hiding place which Leopold describes as a flow from Anne’s early years in Germany, her childhood in the Netherlands, in Germany, Amsterdam, the years of the Nazi occupation, where Anne spent two-years in hiding, her time in the concentration camps and sadly her tragic fate.”
Every visitor will be provided a handheld audio device that will explain in great detail everything about the exhibit plus there’s staff on hand to answer any additional questions.
Anne Frank The Exhibition was originally scheduled to run until April 30th, but because of its incredible reception, has been extended through October 31, 2025.
For more information log onto
annefrankexhibit.org