The Amsterdam flat where Anne Frank lived with her family before going into hiding in the famous “attic” across the city will soon house refugee writers from around the world, giving them a safe place to live and work. The Christian Science Monitor reports that various Dutch relief groups have conspired to buy the building and update it to provide asylum to those whose voices may never be heard otherwise. Foundation chairman Maarten Asscher says “It is of rare historical symbolism that writers can finish their work at the exact location where Anne Frank started her diary.”
The article touches on what some consider the exploitive nature of the “Anne Frank industry,” (the reason we opted to explore some of Amsterdam’s more, uh, cheerful offerings on our post-college sojourn rather than join the throng of tourists crawling through her depressing little rooms) but using Anne’s legacy to provide oppressed writers with a clean, well-lighted place seems gracious rather than greedy.