Information about my work as a Labour Councillor for East Finchley in the London Borough of Barnet

Tuesday 28 August 2012

Anne Frank Museum

I managed to get a brief holiday over the weekend, going to Amsterdam. It's a great town, but the best part of the holiday was visiting the Anne Frank Museum. It's a very moving experience, and you go into the secret rooms they stayed in, although with plenty of other tourists, it's harder to imagine the fear, stress, isolation and darkness that they must have been in. To be there for an hour was difficult, to live there for years must have been near unbearable.

Sadly, the greatest generation will not be with us forever, and I think it's important to treat that generation with the respect they deserve.

A word too, on antisemitism. Living in a borough with a large Jewish population, I know the fear and prejudice that Jewish people live under. I love history, and it is interesting that in the books I read, spanning medieval to early modern British history, how much prejudice there has been against Jewish people. I came away from the museum more determined than ever to combat it. I well recommend a visit.