Anne Frank Center aims to foster tolerance

The Anne Frank Center USA near Ground Zero wants visitors to connect to their moral compass and measure their tolerance against human injustice.

A new exhibit at the center displays the Jewish teenager's view from the small window of the Amsterdam attic where she hid from the Nazis -- images of a tree-lined plaza, her writing desk and bed are synchronized with an audio presentation of her famous diary.

A "Contemplation Room" inside the exhibit allows people to simulate through sight and sound what Frank and her family experienced as they hid for 25 months during World War II. Frank died at a Nazi concentration camp in March 1945 when she was 15 years old. Her diary was published in 1947 and became a worldwide best-seller.

"The focus is to bring the audience into Anne's bedroom and her daily life of hiding, and the feel of the tension within the space," said Hilary Eddy Stipelman, 36, program manager at the center. "It's like Anne is talking to you."

Beyond the exhibit, Frank's message of courage against intolerance is also on display in lower Manhattan, in the way the facility is reaching out to its neighbor, Park 51, the Islamic community center that sparked outrage in 2010 because opponents thought it was too close to Ground Zero

"We want to walk the talk," said Yvonne Simmons, executive director of the Anne Frank Center. "We want to make a contemporary connection to the Anne Frank story to universal tolerance to 9/11."

Saad Ansari, 23, Park 51 director of operations, said a collaboration is "a natural" in facing the hatred that led to the 9/11 attacks.

"Anne Frank captures so much and we can learn from her," Ansari said. "We want not only to address the symptoms of the disease but the real problem and focus on prevention."

Frank and her family and four others hid from the Nazis in a warren of rooms above her father's office. After their hideout was betrayed, they were captured and sent to concentration camps.

The Anne Frank Center moved in the fall from its SoHo facility to 44 Park Place, where the permanent "Anne Frank and Us" exhibit opens March 16. The building is across the street from Park 51.

In September, Park 51, which also offers prayer services, opened a gallery with a photography exhibit that illustrates the diversity of New York City. Danny Goldfield's "NY Children" contains more than 195 color photographs of children from 169 immigrant groups in the city.

In the spirit of tolerance epitomized by Frank, the centers plan to offer joint educational programs where the public will be encouraged to visit both places.

At the Anne Frank Center, a series of lectures called "Human Watch" will discuss the issues of racism, discrimination and intolerance "that need to be discussed. This is the core of our mission," Simmons said.

Anne Frank Center board member Sharon Ruth Douglas of Lawrence, said, "We are a block from the World Trade Center and this permits us to enlarge our mission to promote brotherhood and tolerance, and prepare young people to face injustice."

Teacher Joshua Adler, 33, recently took students from his eighth-grade class at New York City Lab Middle School in Chelsea to visit both centers.

"We heard the story of a Holocaust survivor and learned human experience," he said. "We then went across the street and my students made the connection of human tolerance. It was a good experience."