HIGH STREET NEWS
Issue No 3 - Spring 1995
I am sure you are very aware that this year is the 50th Anniversary of the end of World War II in Europe. VE Day is the 8th May. To commemorate this event and in remembrance of the victims of this tragic time in our history, I have released a special Collectors' Club piece with particular significance for me.
In October 1988 I visited Amsterdam and on this trip went to the Anne Frank Museum. This is the 17th Century building in Prinsengracht, where Otto Frank, a manufacturer and wholesaler of jams, pectins and spices converted the annex of his firm, Travies & Co, into a hiding place where he hid his family for two years from the "razias" (round-ups) of Jewish families, during the Second World War.
The remarkable story of this family's attempt to hide from the Nazis was able to be told because the daughter Anne kept a diary, which was saved when the family was seized and taken to the death camps at Auschwitz and Bergen-Belsen, where all except Mr Frank died. The Anne Frank Diaries have been published in 50 languages and countries, and a play and movie have been made. Millions of people have visited the Museum and, like me, have sat very still on that seat downstairs afterwards, in silent turmoil.
When I returned from my visit, I discovered a book written by Miep Gies, called "Anne Frank Remembered". Miep helped the Franks and their friends to stay hidden, finding them food, bringing them information etc. I often wonder if, under similar circumstances, I would behave as bravely. I also wonder what injustices, on my doorstep, I am managing not to see.
Anyway, inspired by this story and with a deep sense of feeling for the plight of those Jews, on Remembrance Day 1988, I created the Anne Frank Building and entitled it "The Hiding Place". The building was an experimental piece and the first one to be cast by the process I use in the business today. So it is very important to me, for both reasons. It therefore seemed appropriate that, with the 50th Anniversary of VE Day and the celebration of one year of the Collectors Club, I released a piece of historical significance exclusively for club members. |
