7月8日 星期日 – Sunday, July 8
今天算是第一天在阿姆斯特丹，第一件事是去参观安妮之家。PJG在出发前就购买好了的早上9点半的票，这里的票需要提前在网上预定，否则到了再买应该是买不到的。安妮之家坐落在王子运河边，和西教堂相邻，离我俩的民宿走路大概只有5分钟。
Today is our first full day in Amsterdam, the first thing on our plan is to visit the Anne Frank House. PJG purchased the 9:30am tickets before we left; tickets here need to be purchased online in advance, otherwise it is impossible to get in.
The Anne Frank House is located on the edge of the Princes Canal, adjacent to the West Church, and is only about 5 minutes walk from our B&B.
In this age of madness and self-interest, under a colorful cityscape and hidden among an ordinary group of buildings along side the canal in this bustling tourist area, stands this house. The Anne Frank Museum silently displays the cruel and sad history that is indelible for mankind. Here is the secret hiding place of the Jewish family of Anne Frank where her family and four other people lived for two years during World War II. It is also the place where Anne recorded her daily life as a teenager and her fear of being discovered in her famous diary.
在这个充斥着金钱利益欲望疯狂，张扬自我个性的时代，在这个熙攘喧嚣浮躁的旅游胜地，在绚丽多彩的装饰下的都市风景之中，隐藏在普普通通的一群依运河而建的建筑群中，安妮·法兰克博物馆在那里无声的展示着一段人类永远不可磨灭的残酷并悲伤的历史。这里是二战期间，作为犹太人的安妮和她的家人以及另外4个人两年的秘密藏身之处，也是安妮在她的伟大的日记中记录下她每天担惊受怕被发现的生活的地方。
Anne’s family moved to Amsterdam in 1933 under the pressure of the Nazi regime. After the German forces occupied Amsterdam in 1940, the family went into hiding from July 6, 1942 to August 4, 1944, when they were finally discovered by the Nazis. Visitors here are forbidden to take pictures, so visitors can experience the rooms as they did almost every minute. Anne and her family and friends were hiding in a sealed off section of her father Otto Frank’s company building; the secret passage to the space is covered by a bookshelf that is barely tall enough to duck through. Before entering their secret hiding place, the museum did an excellent job with audio commentary to introduce a lot of the background, and interspersed it with some of Anne’s diary content (using a little girl’s voice). Just after entering the museum, there is a line from Anne’s diary.
“One day this terrible war will be over. The time will come when we will be people again and not just Jews.”
Behind the bookshelf is the secret hiding place of the eight people. On the first floor there is one bathroom and two bedrooms, one of which is the room of Anne and the dentist Fritz. On the walls are pictures from stars like any 13-year-old girl might have – these are the originals with glass protecting them. Climbing the narrow staircase to the second floor is the communal kitchen and a bedroom. The windows of the room were completely blacked out to prevent them from being seen from the outside. (We wondered if it would be more noticeable with the windows blacked out? But after the visit, PJG asked a staff member who said that Anne’s father’s company produced and stored spices, therefore, it was normal to store them in the dark; also the windows are facing a private courtyard and so not easy to attract attention.)
At that time, it’s was very dangerous to hide people, and the Nazis encouraged everyone to report Jews. Anne wrote in her diary that they should be very careful, and be extra quiet during the day, for fear of being discovered by workers below. The eight lived in horror every day for fear of being shot if they were discovered. When we visited the secret rooms, almost no one talked, but with each step, the wooden floor would make a squeaking sound – a reminder me of what it might have been like for Anne.
All this quiet time also allowed Anne to spend a lot of time reading and writing. She had imagined that she would publish a book after she came out. She said that writing can make her forget her grief and cheer on her spirit. Yes, and as history has shown, her writing not only supported herself, but also gave her a voice to another 1.5 million children who were persecuted by the Nazis and the memory of six million Jews who were killed.
安妮一家在德国受纳粹政权势力的压榨下于1933年举家搬到阿姆斯特丹， 当1940年开始德军势力也占领了这里后，全家从1942年7月6日到1944年8月4日被纳粹发现，就隐藏在这个密室里。在这里参观禁止拍照，所以游客可以很安静的感受几乎每分每秒都牵扯生与死的房间。安妮和家人，朋友的藏身之处是在他父亲奥托·弗兰克的公司楼的后面，秘密通道被一个大概只有一人高的书架遮挡着。在进入她们的秘密的藏身之处之前，博物馆做了很好的工作，有音频解说来介绍很多背景情况，而且中间还穿插了一些安妮的日记内容（用了一个小女生的声音）。刚刚进入博物馆，就有一行安妮的日记，“这场残酷的战争终将会结束，当那个时刻来临的时候，我们将又是一个人，而不只是犹太人。” （我自己的翻译）
进入书架后面就是那8个人的秘密藏身之处，第一层有两个卧室，一个洗手间＋马桶，其中一间卧室是安妮和牙医Fritz的房间，墙上贴了很多13岁小女生喜欢的明星头像。爬上狭窄的楼梯，二楼是一个公用厨房和一间卧室。房间的窗户都被完全遮挡住了，以防被发现 。（不过我俩在参观的时候有个疑问，遮挡住了会不会更引人注意，因为窗户是可见的？参观完后，PJG问了一位工作人员，他说安妮父亲的公司生产储藏香料，所以避光储存是很正常的，而且那几扇窗户是面朝一个私人的校园，并不容易引人注意。）
隐藏在下面就有人工作的地方是非常危险的，而且当时纳粹鼓励全民举报，就像安妮在日记里写到她们要格外小心，不能出一点儿动静，生怕就隔一层地板的下面的工人听到，她们每天都生活在惊恐之中，害怕被发现后就会被枪毙。当我们在密室里参观的时候，几乎没有人交谈，但是没走动一步，木质楼板就会发出咯吱咯吱的声音，想来安妮在的时候也会如此，所以她们白天有工人在下面的时候，她们几乎都不能走动。
这也让安妮有了大量的时间阅读和写作，她曾幻想她出去之后会发布她写的书。她说写作能让她忘掉悲伤，让她的精神振奋。是的，她的写作不仅支撑了她自己，也给了她代表的被纳粹迫害的1百50万儿童，6百万犹太人那永远不会被磨灭的声音。
A long time ago, I read the Chinese version of The Diary of Anne Frank, but I don’t really remember it well and the story of what happened seems so unbelievable to me. Today I am very grateful to be able to personally come to the family’s hiding place and immerse myself in the feelings of how a teenage girl faced daily life-and-death and of not seeing the real world outside for two years.
I hope her story and her spirit with her beautiful smile that day will always be remembered.
我在很多年前曾读过安妮日记中文版，但是记不太清楚了，因为读的时候还是感觉很遥远，今天很感激可以亲自来到她和家人的藏身之处，身临其境的感受一个十几岁小女孩曾经的生死攸关，不见天日的两年的生活环境。希望她的故事，她的精神伴着她那天真美丽的笑容永远被我们铭记吧。