The Story Behind House Number 47

Three more dutch-design houses are currently being constructed. A total of 30 are expected to be completed before February 2011. The first four houses that already exist are now occupied by families who were awarded their new residence through Gawad Kalinga’s usual selection process by raffle. Before these families were pre-selected to participate in the raffle, they had to undergo a series of values-formation and community-building activities.

The houses being built in the Air France KLM Village will replicate the façade of delft blue miniature houses that are given to Business Class passengers flying on KLM intercontinental flights. These ceramic house-shaped souvenir items are actually filled with Dutch gin. Since 1952, KLM had been distributing these unique coveted souvenirs. When the airline celebrated its 75th anniversary in 1994, it decided to produce 15 new house designs making it a total of 75. Since then, one new house was designed every year for KLM’s birthday. Currently, there are 90 unique KLM miniature houses representing 90 years of aviation history. Most of the designs are modeled after existing buildings while some are inspired by Dutch architecture.

KLM miniature house number 47

Among the famous miniature pieces is the Anne Frank house, or house number 47. I find this the most interesting because of the story behind it. Many of us who have read about Anne Frank know her as the young Jewish teenager who wrote a journal about her life inside the secret annex of their house in Amsterdam during World War II. Her diary was first published in Dutch in 1947 entitled Het Achterhuis (The Secret Annex) and translated into English as “Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl”. The book was popularized in a stage play that premiered in New York in 1956 with the Queen of the Netherlands in attendance. The Diary of Anne Frank later won prestigious awards including the Pulitzer for Theater, the Tony Award, and the New York Critic's Circle Award for Best Play.

Born in Germany in 12th June 1929, Anne Frank later fled the Nazi rule together with her family and moved to Amsterdam where they hoped would be a safe refuge for them. However, as the war spread, Germany attacked the Netherlands and vowed to capture all Jewish Germans. For two years, the Franks and a couple of trusted friends lived together in a secret annex concealed by a movable bookcase until they were discovered by the SS officers in 1944. The family was forcibly separated and Anne was sent back to Germany and transferred to the infamous Auschwitz concentration camp.

The Secret Annex

When I first read The Diary of Anne Frank in high school, it brought a chilling revelation about a life of terror the Franks had endured while evading Nazi arrest. Visiting the Anne Frank museum with my sons in 2005 gave me a deeper insight into the kind of life in hiding. As we entered through the bookshelves that inconspicuously opened like a door and revealed their dwelling area, the feeling was a bit tense being in the same place where their family and friends hid as they tried hard to avoid any suspicion by the Nazis. Yet the visit was fulfilling to have relived, within a span of one hour, a piece of the life of this young girl who expressed in writing details of her thoughts, feelings and experiences inside that Secret Annex.

The Anne Frank Museum today

On May 3 this year, the Anne Frank House will celebrate its 50th anniversary. The museum attracts roughly a million visitors each year. The place is easy to reach as it is located in the center of Amsterdam. It takes around 20 minutes to walk from Central Station to the museum. You can find extensive information in the official website of the Anne Frank House. The Online Secret Annexe even allows people to make a virtual visit of the museum.