This is something totally unbelievable. I was shocked!!! I Thought I knew a few things about Anne Frank. You know, being Dutch I’ve read her book (diary), watched some movies, learned a few things in school. But this totally blew my mind! Plus the fact that I’m Dutch AND I’m only 45 minutes away from a tiny town in Iowa, called Danville, which has a link to Anne Frank!

The Anne Frank museum in Danville

There is a ”Anne Frank museum” in Danville Iowa! Isn’t that crazy? I saw a Anne Frank statue outside of the WWII museum in New Orleans. We didn’t go inside that time, but now I’m actually eager to know more after I just visited that little museum in Danville, Iowa.

I’m always on the lookout for Dutch things in the USA. Iowa is actually one of the states where most of the Dutch immigrants settled down and build communities in the 19th century, in 1847 to be exact. I didn’t know that, before I came to the USA in 2006.

For example, there is a little Dutch town, called Pella only 50 minutes west of us. It has an annual Tulip Festival, Dutch bakeries, lots of people with Dutch last names (which are unrecognizable if Americans pronounce it by the way). I’m super happy, I’m close to some Dutch food, events and traditions. But….. recently I discovered another treasure only 45 minutes away from us…. in the opposite direction.

Why did I just know about this museum recently?

About 3 years ago, on our way to Chicago, we suddenly noticed a tourist sign on the side of the road which said ”Anne Frank Penpal museum”.

Wait, WHAT? A museum in Danville about Anne Frank? Of course I wanted to visit, but the Covid pandemic hit right after we discovered the sign. I wanted to invite a group of other Dutch people in our town to come as well.

Then the school, our kids are going to, recently started doing field trips again. Our son’s 8th grade history teacher invited me to come along and be a chaperone to go to the Penpal of Anne Frank museum. Of course I said ”YES, PLEASE!”.

On February 25, 2022, we left school in the early, cold and snowy morning. It wasn’t easy to find, which was funny, because the town has only 927 residents. The library was small, but looked quite new. The bus driver parked the bus on the side and a small door opened up into a community room. The students received a 4 page questionnaire about the museum, but first we watched a short video introduction.

I asked the lady at the museum (her name was Janet), why the tourist sign just popped up on the side of the road only 3 years ago. She told me, that they were in a different location before, without restrooms and they were not accessible for people with a handicap. That was the reason they were not allowed to put up that tourist sign earlier. Now the museum has a new location and is attached to the town’s library.

How does Anne Frank get a penpal in Danville, Iowa?

This was my biggest question. How did Anne Frank find a penpal overseas?

A teacher, Ms. Birdie Mathews, from Danville, traveled to Europe in her vacation time. One time, in 1939, she visited Amsterdam, the Netherlands and visited a Montessori School there. She asked the Montessori teacher if she could have addresses from students who would like to be penpals with her students in Danville, Iowa, USA. She received 26 addresses.

Juanita and Betty Ann Wagner were two sisters living in Danville, Iowa. They were the ones, who picked Anne Frank and her sister Margot to write letters to. They even saved the letters from Anne and Margot even after they moved several times.

An emotional part for me was, when the oldest of the Iowa sisters in the introduction movie found out that Anne Franks Diary publication was in the USA in 1952. She was shocked and said:” MY Anne Frank?”

How is it possible that her letters are written in English?

Another thing I didn’t know, was that Otto Frank, Anne and Margot’s father, worked in New York for 2 years. He spoke and wrote in English fluently. When a letter came from the United States, he translated the letters for his daughters in Dutch and they wrote a letter back in Dutch. Otto translated their Dutch letters in English and the girls copied them to be send overseas.

How is the museum set up?

The Timeline

I loved the idea that throughout the museum a timeline was made along the walls. Above the timeline was information about what the Frank family went through in the Netherlands. Below the timeline was information what was happening in Danville and the rest of the USA, at the same time.

In the middle of the first room were showcases of information about the Nazi regime and artifacts from the WWII time period in the Netherlands.

A bookcase

To go to the next part of the museum, a bookcase can be opened to show a hall way with more pictures, quotes and artifacts. I actually gave my son a little push to open the bookcase, because nobody stepped forward;)

It was emotional to read quotes of Anne Frank’s diary, because they are still so accurate. She wanted to be a journalist and write to and for people.

I want to go on living even after my death! And therefore I am grateful to God for this gift, this possibility of developing myself and of writing, of expressing all that is in me. I can shake off everything if I write; my sorrows disappear; my courage is reborn. But, and that is the great question, will I ever be able to write anything great, will I ever become a journalist or a writer?

Anne Frank

Little did she know at that time, what a great writer she already was!

At the end of that hallway was a small replica ( or so they thought how it could’ve looked like) of the attic where Anne often played in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.

Paintings

After the war, Otto Frank, Anne’s father, did not know where his wife or the girls were. He started to find out bits and pieces about the horrible events that happened in the concentration camps. His wife and both daughters passed away just a few weeks before everyone was liberated.

Otto connected again with the Geiringer family, who lived in the the same apartment building as the Frank family before the war. They also lost their father/husband and their brother/son Erich Heinrich during the war. The mother, Elfriede and daughter, Eva survived. During their time of hiding, the father and son painted and the canvasses were retrieved by the mother and daughter after the war. The mother married Otto Frank after the war. The original paintings are in the Dutch resistance museum in Amsterdam. The only copies of these paintings are in this small museum in Danville, Iowa.

The card collection

Anne Frank loved post cards. She collected hundreds of them. At the end of the museum tour the class was introduced to a project which was started by an 8th grade class in Danville, Iowa to collect postcards from all over the world. These postcards are in memory of the 1.5 million children that lost their lives during World War II.

Help them keep the memory alive for future generations by sending a postcard to

Danville, 8th grade class

419 S. Main St.

Danville, IA 52623

USA

Danielle

Hello everyone,

Welcome to my Crafty Dutch Girl blog! Grab a cup of “koffie” and browse through fun blog posts about our Dutch family expat life in the USA, Dutch history, Dutch recipes, Dutch things to do in the USA and all kinds of crafts and activities. Don’t forget to connect with me for new ideas! “Groetjes en tot ziens”.