NEW YORK - Queen Máxima of the Netherlands ambled slowly through the Anne Frank exhibition in Lower Manhattan on Tuesday. When she reached a replica of the girl's bedroom, she stopped short in her black stilettos, clearly moved.
"You can see the life of a young teenager here," the queen said, gesturing around the cramped quarters with her gloved hand. "Look at the photos of the idols and stars."
Among the pictures hanging on the wall were 20th century movie greats such as Greta Garbo and Norma Shearer. There was also royalty, including photos of a young Queen Elizabeth of Britain, then a princess, and Princess Juliana of the Netherlands, an in-law of the current queen.
It was a reminder: Anne Frank was an ordinary girl, with starry-eyed hopes and dreams. She could have been any other Dutch youngster, but because she was Jewish, she became another victim of the Nazi killing machine in World War II.
Queen Máxima, 53, spent Tuesday morning touring "Anne Frank The Exhibition," a full-size recreation of the secret annex where the teenager hid with her family for two years in Amsterdam, the capital of the Netherlands. The exhibition has brought one of Europe's most solemn and popular tourist destinations to America. It sold out when it opened in January and its run has been extended.
In another room of the New York exhibit, the queen pointed to a board game on display, called "Het Beursspel." She turned to a reporter and explained, "That's a stock exchange game," she said, translating the title. "The Dutch love playing board games."
According to Anne's famous diary, Peter van Pels, whose family also hid in the annex, got the game for his 16th birthday.
Queen Máxima was in New York in her role as the United Nations' special advocate for financial health. While in town, she took the opportunity to view the Anne Frank exhibition. Located at the Center for Jewish History on West 16th Street, the exhibit of photos and artifacts aims to portray Anne as not just a Holocaust victim, but as a "symbol of resilience and strength," organizers said.
In 1940, Germany invaded the Netherlands, imposing the Nazis' anti-Jewish laws and deporting over 100,000 people to extermination camps. After Anne Frank's older sister Margot received a letter ordering her to report to one of the German work camps in 1942, the family went into hiding in a secret annex in the building that housed Otto Frank's business.
They hid in the tight quarters for two fearful years. It was in the annex where the 13-year-old Anne penned the iconic diary that has become among the most famous Holocaust books in the world.
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The Anne Frank House museum in Amsterdam is one of the most visited attractions in Europe; roughly 1.2 million people tour the site annually. The New York show aims to expand access to Anne's story. Sold out immediately, its run has been extended through October.
Three quarters of Dutch Jews were murdered during World War II, a dramatically higher percentage than in other European countries. Nevertheless, some people of the Netherlands resisted Nazi occupation and attempted to protect their Jewish population, engaging in acts of civil disobedience against the German regime, according to the museum.
Although she has visited the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam, Máxima, the Argentinian-born wife of Dutch King Willem-Alexander, appeared moved to tears by the New York display. Accompanied by museum leaders and a trio of journalists, she stared straight into a large portrait of Anne for several long moments and gazed sorrowfully at a photo of Frank's classmates who perished in the Holocaust.
At a wing of the exhibit that deals with the discovery of the annex's residents, her eyes filled with tears. Anne and her sister Margot were separated from their parents and sent to Bergen-Belsen, a concentration camp in Germany, where they both died. "Do we know if they died together?" the queen asked Ronald Leopold, executive director of the Anne Frank House, who spoke in English and Dutch as he led her through the exhibit.
He informed Máxima that the two are believed to have died several days apart, in February 1945, a few months before the end of the war. "They were so close," she said.
At the end of the tour, she paused. "Beautiful. Very nicely done," she said.
Her visit underscored the importance of Holocaust education, particularly at a time when groups such as the Anti-Defamation League report that antisemitism is at a record high, organizers said.
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Afterward, the queen held a discussion with ninth graders from Great Neck North High School on Long Island, which has incorporated Anne Frank's diary and the exhibition into their curriculum.
"It was very immersive. You really could feel what they felt living in the cramped space," said Charles Wellington, one of the students. "You could see how terrible it was."
Other students echoed his sentiments, as Queen Máxima nodded.
"What we learn from Anne Frank is that it's a fundamental value to see everyone as a person, it doesn't matter what religion or background they are," she told the children. "Her story speaks to our shared humanity."