Growing up my wife had this dream. I never understood it but her dream was to go to Amsterdam. It wasn’t to see the coffee houses or the beautiful museums. Her dream was to visit the Anne Frank house. She had read Anne Frank’s diary and dreamed of what it must have been like to live in that tiny space with multiple families for years while hiding from the Nazis. Fast forward years later and thanks to the generosity of her brother she got her wish! Her brother graciously sent both of us to a trip to Europe where we visited Germany, Austria and Amsterdam. She finally got to see the Anne Frank house. It was quite impressive–and this is coming from someone who never read Anne Frank’s diary and knew little about her plight during years in hiding. We got to see the secret staircase which granted access to the Annex. My wife was searching for beans left over from Anne Frank’s story about the spilling of the beans all over the staircase. I imagine that this is where the phrase to “Spill the beans” comes from. 

While the Anne Frank House was very impressive. What really left a mark on me was the presentation offered after the tour. This presentation presented the question: With the rise of neo-Nazism in Europe, should European governments allow for Neo-Nazis to be heard. That is, should they be allowed free speech to express the ideals of Nazism or should Europe shut them down? This was laced with all kinds of imagery of Neo-Nazis taking their cause and ideals to the streets along with the general public protesting against it. 

This presentation really struck me and set me back leaving me pondering the question. Strangely, the question did not linger long for me. It didn’t take long for me to realize that ideas need room to breathe. In this environment, good ideas spread and bad ideas die. Good ideas need freedom to work and bad ideas require coercion, force and violence. While I don’t have the proof to back me up–I can only imagine that one of Hitler’s first directives was to stamp out ideas that he did not agree with–and he likely did so with force and violence. 

Some of the people I admire most will adamantly disagree with me. That’s okay. I promise I won’t force you to see things my way and I champion your right to argue and/or disagree.  

I hear that the Anne Frank’s house has changed. I hear most of the museum is next door and you cannot really enter the same space as the annex. What a shame. It was nice to have the ability to touch and feel history–even though the history was not all good. I’m sure that presentation is gone too–It really made you think.