Image of a Young Girl: Madame Tussauds Unveils Anne Frank Wax Figure

Image of a Young Girl: Madame Tussauds Unveils Anne Frank Wax Figure.(Spiegel).Madame Tussauds in Berlin has opened a new exhibit featuring a wax figure of Anne Frank, based on the last photographs taken of the famous diarist before she went into hiding in Amsterdam. The young girl, who is depicted surrounded by her favorite things, should be a figure of hope, not despair, says the museum.Since it opened in 2008, the Berlin branch of the Madame Tussauds wax museum, located on the city's famous Unter den Linden boulevard, has been home to an eclectic collection of past and present celebrities, from US President Barack Obama to German supermodel Heidi Klum. But its latest addition, the figure of a young girl looking up expectantly from her desk, is something unique.
The girl is surrounded by some of her favorite things: magazines about the latest trends in cinema and theater and a copy of "Uncle Tom's Cabin," a book she loves. A hand-sewn dress, one of the two she owns, is hanging beside her. On her wooden writing desk is a modest casket containing her most precious possession of all: the key to her diary. The lights in her room are flickering, and voices and laughter can be heard from outside.
The girl depicted is none other than an 13-year-old Anne Frank, whose diary describing her Jewish family's experiences hiding from Nazi persecution in Amsterdam has become one of the most widely read books in the world.
Thomas Heppener, director of the Anne Frank Center in Berlin, which aims to promote the memory of Anne Frank and which collaborated on the project, officially opened the exhibit on Friday. Also in attendance was the sixth grade class of the Anne Frank Primary School in Berlin.
The new Anne Frank figure is next to that of Sophie Scholl, an activist executed by the Nazi regime for her involvement in the White Rose, a non-violent German resistance group.
But Zerbe made clear that the juxtaposition was just a coincidence, and that the museum was not trying to create a historical display. "We want our visitors, and children in particular, to feel an emotional connection with the figure, rather than to feel that they're in a history class," she said.
In a chilling irony, the wax figure of Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler, which the museum controversially re-introduced after it was beheaded by a visitor shortly after the Berlin Madame Tussauds opened in 2008, is in the next room.Read and see the full story here.