The Anne Frank House Museum has just recovered another item special to Anne Frank, and it went on display Wednesday.
Not long before Anne and her family went into hiding from the Nazis in 1942, Anne gave some toys – a tin of marbles, a tea set and a book – to a non-Jewish neighbor to keep safe.
That neighbor, Toosje Kupers, originally offered the items to Anne’s father Otto, the only family member to survive the Holocaust, after the war ended. He told her she could keep them. She has kept all of those items ever since. It was only last year when Toosje, 83, was moving that she thought to tell the museum about the tin of marbles.
Teresien da Silva, head of collections at the Anne Frank House museum, told CNN, “She discovered she had the marbles somewhere at home in the attic. She immediately contacted us….We were thrilled that the marbles survived and had been kept. She decided to give everything to the Anne Frank House – the book, the tea set and the marbles.”
“Anne gave these to her friend for safe-keeping. She kept them for when Anne returned, but Anne did not return,” da Silva added.
Toosje recalls that when Anne gave her the items she said, “‘I’m worried about my marbles, because I’m scared they might fall into the wrong hands. Could you keep them for me for a little while?’”
The Anne Frank House in Amsterdam took to their official Twitter account to post a photo of the tin and marbles.
Marbles #AnneFrank played with before hiding on display @kunsthal Rotterdam @ new exhibition http://t.co/nDppWIvcRt pic.twitter.com/WgUiiVQK39
— Anne Frank House (@annefrankhouse) February 3, 2014
The tin of marbles will be part of The Second World War in 100 Objects exhibition in Rotterdam.
“So many people know about Anne Frank because of the diary, which was written under such unusual circumstances. (But) the marbles are a reminder that she was just a little girl,” said da Silva.
The book, which Anne received on her 13th birthday, and tea set Anne gave to Toosje have already been on display at the Anne Frank House Museum.
“We decided to present the marbles for the first time in Rotterdam. For children during that time, marbles were a treasure. They worked very hard to win them,” said da Silva.
With this rediscovered item of Anne’s going on display, many took to Twitter to post their favorite Anne Frank quote.
"It's a wonder I haven't abandoned all my ideals…Yet I cling to them because I still believe…people are truly good at heart." #AnneFrank
— Christian Gompert (@CAGompert) February 6, 2014
How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world. –Anne Frank
— Inspirational Quotes (@APositiveQuote) February 6, 2014
“The final forming of a person's character lies in their own hands.” — Anne Frank
— Motivation&Success (@MotSuccess) February 6, 2014