Today we started our day by taking the public transportation to Zaandijk Zaanse Schans, a historic neighborhood in Zaandam. The town is best known for its preserved 18th-19th century windmills, traditional timber houses, and artisan workshops. Here we started with a walk through the town up to a ledge with a lookout of the town. We could see the old windmills and the farmland that covers the town. Afterwards, we walked to the clog museum where they had hundreds of historic clogs on display. We also get a demonstration of how they create clogs and the historical context of them. Many people wore clogs in order to protect their feet. During the cold winters, farmers had to wear clogs to protect their feet from the outside weather and the harsh conditions of the farmland. We also walked through the cheese museum and got to try many different flavors of cheese. There were also goat and sheep cheeses.

We also got tickets to see the Anne Frank House, a historic museum in Amsterdam preserving the Secret Annex where Anne Frank and seven others hid during WWII. The house preserves the Secret Annex, a hidden space where Anne Frank, her family, and four other Jewish people hid from Nazi persecution between 1942 to 1944. The museum documented Anne’s life, the Holocaust, and the enduring impact of her diary, which has been translated into over 70 languages and was a required reading in many American schools. The canal house was originally built in 1635 and later became the office and warehouse of Otto Frank’s, Anne Frank’s father, business. The Secret Annex was concealed behind a movable bookcase and was supplied secretly by trusted employees. On August 4, 1944, the hiding place was betrayed, and all eight occupants were arrested and sent to concentration camps. Only Otto Frank survives. After the war, Otto worked to preserve the building, and the museum was opened on May 3, 1960. During the tour, we got to see and walk through the hidden passageway. The windows were all blocked out and the occupants had to be deathly quiet during the day otherwise they would be caught and prosecuted by the Nazi’s. The museum and tour gave us a good look into the quiet lives Jewish people had to live in order to avoid the wraith of WWII.