Anne Frank exhibit at Winnipeg library aims for dialogue about race, tolerance

An international exhibit chronicling the life of Anne Frank and her experiences hiding from the Nazis during the Holocaust has arrived in Winnipeg to encourage people to discuss racial discrimination and diversity.

The travelling exhibit from Anne Frank House in the Netherlands has been on display in more than 60 countries, but this is the first time it has been in Manitoba.

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The exhibit can be seen on the second floor of the Millennium Library in downtown Winnipeg until Sept. 3. Self-guided tours and guided tours are available.

"Many of us in Canada have personal connections that relate to her story as a result of the mass exodus of people who were desperately trying to escape the unimaginable evil of World War II," Mayor Brian Bowman said at the exhibit's launch on Monday.

"The aim of this exhibit is to create a dialogue and discuss issues that are still relevant in today's world, such as discrimination and the importance of diversity. These are issues we are familiar with in Winnipeg, and they do continue to be issues of great importance around the world."

Anne Frank was a Jewish teen who lived in Amsterdam during the Second World War. She is best known for writing a diary as she and her family went into hiding for two years during the Nazi occupation.

Frank died at the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp not long before it was liberated in 1945. Her diary was published as Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl after the war and continues to be read by people around the world.

The exhibit includes photographs from Frank's childhood and information about how the Nazi regime's persecution of Jewish people affected her family. As well, library books about Frank and the Holocaust are on display.

Bowman noted the exhibit is located near the Canadian Museum for Human Rights, which also aims to promote public discussions about racial inclusiveness and tolerance.

"This is Winnipeg's Year of Reconciliation, a year that is all about building bridges and understanding, and this exhibit certainly assists with those discussions — building bridges, increasing our own education and amplifying the voices of tolerance in our city and across our country," he said.