Anne Frank House VR adds new dimension to Holocaust education pursuit
Staff Reports | Digital Free Press
The Arizona Jewish Historical Society is offering a new VR experience, “Anne Frank House VR: The Secret Annex,” to the Stories of Survival: An Immersive Journey Through the Holocaust exhibit on Monday, March 6.
The Arizona Jewish Historical Society will give free admission to the public and have two local Holocaust survivors from Amsterdam — Dirk Van Leenen and Philip Speyer — to speak about their experience, officials there say.
“Anne Frank House VR: The Secret Annex,” created by Vertigo Games, will offer a unique and emotional insight into the Frank family and four others’ experiences in an old Amsterdam office building under the constant threat of discovery by the Nazis. Visitors will be immersed in Anne Frank’s thoughts as they wander through the rooms of the annex.
Actor, Liev Schreiber, also provides an intense and incredibly intimate narration to the experience.
Anne Frank House VR adds new dimension to Holocaust education pursuit
“We are humbled to offer a virtual experience of the Anne Frank House for visitors who are not able to make the long trip to Amsterdam. I hope that people build an emotional connection to the Frank family,” said Dr. Lawrence Bell, executive director of AZJHS. “We are also pleased to welcome two local Holocaust survivors, to kick off the installation and answer questions about their journeys.”
The new VR experience will be an addition to and remain available alongside “The Last Goodbye,” Pinchas Gutter’s tour of a death camp in Majdanek, Poland. Later to be joined by “The Holy City,” a virtual tour of Jerusalem’s religious sites, to be added in May 2023 in honor of Israel’s 75th Anniversary of Statehood.
“The Anne Frank House VR: The Secret Annex” has won two Webby Awards, leading international awards in the digital world, with the app The Bookcase for Tolerance.
