The largest Anne Frank exhibit in the country is about to move to Sandy Springs — maybe for good.
The 600-photograph, 800-word “Anne Frank in the World” exhibit will move in December from Decatur to a space in the Parkside Shopping Center on Roswell Road, just north of I-285. It will be the third move in six years for the exhibit, owned by the Anne Frank House in the Netherlands and run by the Georgia Commission on the Holocaust.
City leaders hope to raise the $300,000 needed for the three-year lease within a year, creating an endowment that will keep the exhibit in the north Fulton County city while paying for traveling exhibits throughout the state. The commission could then opt to renew its lease for another three years and beyond.
“We are looking at this as a permanent piece of Sandy Springs,” said Mayor Eva Galambos, whose husband, John, is a Holocaust survivor. “This message resonates throughout the ages, so it is a necessity for this to be available to the public.”
The exhibit tells the story of Anne Frank, from her days of freedom in the 1930s to her hiding with her family in Amsterdam, to her 1945 death in the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp. The program includes a 28-minute film that features the only known filming of the girl, leaning over a balcony to watch a wedding.
“It is a very powerful, very moving exhibit,” said Commission Chairwoman Sylvia Wygoda, whose father survived the Holocaust. “We haven’t even announced the move yet, and we have already been inundated with calls. People will want to be a part of this wonderful program.”
More than 150,000 people have seen it, either at its three-year run at Kennesaw State University or the past three years at the Old Courthouse on the Decatur Square.
With a large Jewish population and several private and public schools, Sandy Springs expects to drive up those numbers even more. Officials also expect the community to show its support through donations to keep the exhibit free.
Donations pay for three part-time coordinators, as well as basics such as utilities. Already, $11,000 in donations have come in — and the official announcement isn’t until today, when representatives from the city and commission meet with Gov. Sonny Perdue.
“We will definitely be able to raise the funds to keep it here,” said state Rep. Joe Wilkinson, a Republican who pushed for his hometown to host the exhibit even before Sandy Springs became a city in 2005. “The educational benefits are many, but there are economic and tourism benefits, too.”
The city agrees. Sandy Springs Hospitality and Tourism, the city’s visitors bureau, will open its new welcome center in the same shopping center later this year. The group plans to use some of its funds to promote the exhibit, the first real ad campaign for a program that has so far relied on word of mouth to draw people.
The tourism group also will work with the commission to schedule evening tours for larger groups that want to take in the exhibit.
“The visibility will be good for both,” said Councilwoman Dianne Fries, who helped coordinate the exhibit’s relocation and the new welcome center. “Everyone is very excited.”
About the Author
The Latest
Featured
