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Tickets Sold Out Through March for First Full-Scale Replica of Anne Frank’s Hidden Annex in NYC
Inside “Anne Frank The Exhibition” in New York City. Photo: John Halpern
The first full-scale recreation of the secret annex where Anne Frank hid for two years from Nazis occupying The Netherlands during World War II opened for its world premiere in New York City a week ago to such success that tickets are sold out for two months, organizers told The Algemeiner on Monday.
“We’ve been sold out every day and we are now sold out through March, which is wonderful,” said Michael Glickman, who is the New York representative for the Anne Frank House and the former director of the Center for Jewish History in Manhattan. “The response has been overwhelmingly positive [from] both adults, students, and everyone in between.” He added that the exhibit has already had more than 10,000 visitors in just its first week.
“Anne Frank The Exhibition” is being hosted at the Center for Jewish History, which houses the world’s largest Jewish archive outside of Israel, and is a collaboration with the Anne Frank House museum in Amsterdam. It opened on International Holocaust Remembrance Day last Monday and is scheduled to close on April 30.
The first of its kind, the recreation of the annex is meant to be a limited release exhibit that will travel to other cities in the country, Glickman said. The immersive exhibit also marks the first time that the annex has been completely recreated outside of Amsterdam, and the first time that dozens of artifacts will be seen in the United States — many of which have never been displayed publicly.
Thirteen-year-old Frank, her parents, older sister, and four other Jews hid in the annex to evade Nazi capture in Amsterdam starting in 1942 until they were discovered and arrested in 1944. The annex is also where Frank penned her famous Holocaust diary while hiding in rooms located in the back house of her father’s company in Amsterdam. When Frank and the others were arrested in 1944, she was first transported to the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp, and then with her sister they were sent to the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp in Germany, where they both died of typhus in February 1945. Frank was 15 and her sister was 18 or 19.
The Anne Frank House assembled a team of fabricators, designers, and builders to reconstruct in New York City the five rooms where Frank, her family, and others lived in hiding during the Holocaust. The rooms are filled with furniture and personal possessions, including Frank’s first photo album from 1929-1942; her typed and handwritten invitation to her friend for a film screening in her home; and poetry handwritten by Frank in her friends’ poetry albums. Also on display is the Oscar won by Shelley Winters for the 1959 film “The Diary of Anne Frank.”
The exhibit spans more than 7,500 square feet and features over 100 original artifacts from the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam. A large chunk of the reconstructed annex was made in The Netherlands and shipped over to New York City on freight liners, according to Glickman. “This exhibit came together in record time,” he added. “I’ve been doing these sort of things for a very long time in my career [and] I’ve never seen anything happen as fast. From start to finish, this was a 10-month process.”
Frank’s father, Otto Frank, has a personal connection to New York. He worked in New York City from 1909-1911, before he met and married his wife, Edith. Otto’s roommate at the University of Heidelberg in Germany, Nathan Straus, Jr., invited him to come to New York and work at his family’s department store, Macy’s. Otto worked for about six months as an intern at Macy’s and afterwards worked as an intern at a bank until he left New York in the spring of 1911. The former university roommates maintained contact after Otto returned to Europe.
Years later, Nathan tried to help Otto and his family secure visas to the United States to escape Nazi-occupied Europe, but was unsuccessful. Otto was the only member of his family to survive the Holocaust. After World War II, when he returned to Amsterdam, his former assistant, Miep Gies, gave him Anne’s diary. She had retrieved it from the annex after the Frank family was arrested, hoping to give it to Anne one day. Otto published his daughter’s diary — Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl — first in Dutch, German, and French, and it has since become one of the most translated books in the world. Otto died in 1980 at the age of 91.
The Anne Frank House, an independent nonprofit organization, was established in 1957, in cooperation with Otto. For nearly seven decades, it has preserved the annex where the Frank family hid during World War II.
“Anne’s legacy is remarkable, as represented in the diary she left us, and as one of the 1.5 million Jewish children who were murdered at the hands of Nazi officials and their collaborators,” Ronald Leopold, executive director of the Anne Frank House, said in a released statement. “Through this exhibition, the Anne Frank House offers insights into how this could have happened and what it means for us today. The exhibition provides perspectives, geared toward younger generations, that are certain to deepen our collective understanding of Anne Frank and hopefully provide a better understanding of ourselves.”
“By bringing this exhibition to New York — a place with many ties to Anne’s story— the Anne Frank House is expanding the reach of our work to encourage more people to remember Anne Frank, reflect on her life story, and respond by standing against antisemitism and hatred in their own communities,” he added.
“In a time of rising antisemitism, her diary serves as both a warning and a call to action, reminding us of the devastating impact of hatred,” said Dr. Gavriel Rosenfeld, president of the Center for Jewish History. “This exhibition challenges us to confront these dangers head-on and honor the memory of those lost in the Holocaust.”
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Israeli Arms Firm Threatens to Sue France Over Blocked Off Booths at Paris Air Show
View of the closed IAI stand at the 55th Paris Air Show at Le Bourget Airport on June 16, 2025. Photo: Facebook/Israel Ministry of Defense
The Israeli weapons company Rafael said it will sue the French government for closing off its stand at the 55th Paris Air Show this week because of “offensive” items on display amid Israel’s ongoing war against Hamas terrorists in the Gaza Strip.
Since the start of the world’s biggest aviation trade show on Monday in Le Bourget Airport, four of the nine Israeli companies presenting at the event — Rafael, Elbit Systems, Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI), and UVision — have been completely blocked off behind black walls, which were erected by event organizers on behalf of the French government. French authorities claimed Israel was displaying “offensive” weapons systems in violation of an agreement with the Israeli government.
“Offensive weapons equipment marketed by the firms could not be exhibited, given the situation in Gaza,” said French authorities.
“France considers that this is a terrible situation for the Gazans, a situation from a human and humanitarian point of view, from a security point of view, extremely heavy,” French Prime Minister François Bayrou said during a visit to the air show. “France wanted to demonstrate that offensive weapons should not be present in this show.”
When the four Israeli firms refused to remove the equipment from display, exhibition organizers blocked off the booths in the middle of the night on Sunday, leading into the show’s opening on Monday morning. More barricades were added to close off the entrance to the booths, as shown in videos shared on Facebook by the Israeli Ministry of Defense (IMOD).
“I assure you that we will sue the French government for what they have done to us,” Rafael’s Executive Vice President Shlomo Toaff told Euronews. “We are going to sue them for causing financial damage, for not giving us access to the property that we had rented. We think this is an unjust decision. We’re not getting equal rights like the other exhibitors.”
Israeli defense companies petitioned to a French court earlier this week to reverse the ban on its display of weapons and the blocking of Israeli pavilions at the Paris Air Show, but the court ruled that it does not have the authority to intervene in the decision made by the French government, the IMOD said on Tuesday.
IMOD Director General, Maj. Gen. (Res.) Amir Baram condemned the “absolutely, bluntly antisemitic” decision by the French government to block Israeli pavilions at the show. He accused France of “commercial exclusion to prevent successful Israeli industries from competing with French ones.”
“It’s regrettable and immoral to see discrimination based on extraneous considerations that mask French economic interests aimed at undermining the competition from the Israeli industry,” Baram said. “The scandalous French decision will achieve the opposite result. Despite the French attempt to harm us, visitors, including heads of state and military leaders from around the world, flocked to the Israeli industry pavilions, proving that Israeli defense systems are more sought-after and attractive than ever. The entire world sees the exceptional achievements of Israeli systems in Iran and other arenas. Battlefield performance speaks for our products far better than any exhibition on French soil.”
Toaff told Euronews that his company rented a booth at the Paris Air Show a year prior, submitted blueprints to event organizers months ago, and the equipment cleared French customs. “We invested a lot of money in getting this booth and a lot of effort in preparing for it. I can’t tell you the exact cost, but we’re talking millions of euros,” said Toaff.
“I was totally disappointed,” Sasson Meshar, senior vice president for Airborne Electro-Optics Systems at Elbit, told Euronews. “We invested a lot of money in the exhibition.”
“We don’t understand the logic of the decision, because from our perspective, it’s discrimination, because everybody around is showing the same systems,” he added. “It’s a defense, military system, and that’s what we are showing. We are not all here for some kind of flower exhibition.”
In a statement on Monday, Israel’s Ministry of Defense accused the French government of “hiding behind supposedly political considerations to exclude Israeli offensive weapons from an international exhibition — weapons that compete with French industries.”
“This is particularly striking given Israeli technologies’ impressive and precise performance in Iran,” the ministry stated, alluding to the Israel-Iran war that started mere days before the Air Show.
US Republican Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders condemned the move by the French government as “pretty absurd,” according to Reuters.
Earlier this month, a court in Paris rejected a request by several companies to ban Israel from this year’s Paris Air Show.
The 55th Paris Air Show runs from Monday through Thursday for trade visitors only, but will open to the general public from Friday through Sunday. The event is organized by SIAE, a subsidiary of the French Aerospace Industries Association (GIFAS). This year’s show included 2,500 exhibitors from 48 countries.
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US Military Ready to Carry Out Any Trump Decisions on Iran, Hegseth Says
US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth attends a Senate Appropriations Committee hearing on US President Donald Trump’s budget request for the Department of Defense, on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, US, June 11, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Elizabeth Frantz
The US military is ready to carry out any decision that President Donald Trump may make on Iran, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said on Wednesday, suggesting that the US direction could become clearer in the coming days.
Testifying before a Senate committee, Hegseth was very cautious in his public testimony, declining to say whether the Pentagon had prepared strike options against Iran.
But when pressed by lawmakers, he acknowledged being ready to carry out any orders on Iran and cautioned that Tehran should have heeded Trump’s calls for it to make a deal on its nuclear program prior to the start of Israel‘s strikes on Friday.
“They should have made a deal, President Trump’s word means something. The world understands that. And at the Defense Department, our job is to stand ready and prepared with options and that’s precisely what we’re doing,” Hegseth told the Senate Armed Services Committee.
Hegseth was then asked whether the Trump administration was moving to re-establish deterrence, a term used to describe actions meant to constrain an adversary from taking hostile action.
He responded: “I think we already have in many ways in this environment re-established deterrence. The question is, in the coming days, exactly what direction that goes.”
Trump on Wednesday declined to answer reporters’ questions on whether the US was planning to strike Iran or its nuclear facilities, and said the Iranians had reached out but he feels “it’s very late to be talking.”
“There’s a big difference between now and a week ago,” Trump told reporters outside the White House. “Nobody knows what I’m going to do.”
Trump said that Iran had proposed to come for talks at the White House. He did not provide details. He described Iran as totally defenseless, with no air defense whatsoever, as Israel‘s strikes entered a sixth day.
A source familiar with internal discussions said Trump and his team were considering options that included joining Israel in strikes against Iranian nuclear sites.
Still, Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has rejected Trump’s demand for unconditional surrender.
Iranians jammed the highways out of the capital Tehran, fleeing from intensified Israeli airstrikes.
In the latest bombing, Israel said its air force destroyed the headquarters of Iran’s internal security service.
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Israel Launches Airlift to Bring Home Stranded Citizens After Iran Strikes
Passengers, who had left Israel on June 17, 2025, aboard the Crown Iris cruise ship due to the closure of Israel’s airspace amid the Israel-Iran war, board a bus after their arrival at the port of Larnaca, Cyprus, June 18, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Yiannis Kourtoglou
Israel on Wednesday launched a phased airlift operation to bring home its citizens, after the country’s military strike on Iran closed air space across the Middle East, leaving tens of thousands of Israelis stuck overseas.
The first rescue flight, operated by national carrier El Al, touched down at Tel Aviv Airport early Wednesday morning, returning passengers from Larnaca, Cyprus.
Worldwide, Israel‘s transport ministry estimates that more than 50,000 Israelis, stranded after airlines halted flights to the country, are trying to come home.
Foreign citizens have also been fleeing Iran overland. China started evacuating its citizens from Tehran to Turkmenistan by overland bus on Tuesday. Hundreds of other foreign nationals fled to neighboring Armenia and Azerbaijan.
El Al has said repatriation flights are already scheduled from Athens, Rome, Milan, Paris, Budapest, and London. Smaller carriers Arkia and Israir are also taking part.
“We are very emotional about receiving the first rescue flight as part of ‘Safe Return,’” Transportation Minister Miri Regev told the captain of the arriving El Al flight.
While many Israelis want to come back, around 38,000 tourists are stranded in Israel, with much of the country in lockdown, and all the museums and holy sites closed.
The US embassy in Jerusalem said on Wednesday it was organizing evacuation flights and ship departures for US citizens who wanted to leave, while the Tourism Ministry said it would start coordinating flights out for foreigners.
Around 1,500 Americans on a Jewish heritage program were evacuated overnight to Cyprus via a cruise ship, which will now sail back with Israeli citizens aboard.
“We didn’t sleep for nights on end. We are all very exhausted and it’s a sigh of relief,” said Dorian, 20, from New York, after he had disembarked.
“In Israel, I was very afraid. I was never used to anything like that. Sirens, missiles, or anything like that. New York is pretty much very safe, and this was new to me.”
Iran has fired more than 400 ballistic missiles at Israel since Friday, triggering air raid sirens and a rush to bunkers. At least 24 people, all civilians, have died so far in the strikes, according to Israeli authorities.
Iranian officials have reported at least 224 deaths, mostly civilians, though that toll has not been updated for days.
CYPRUS HUB
Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion airport has been closed to passenger traffic since Israel launched its pre-dawn attack on Friday and commercial aircraft are sitting out the war in foreign airfields.
The Airports Authority reinforced staffing on Wednesday to ensure arriving passengers left the airport quickly. Relatives were advised to avoid travelling to pick up family members for security reasons.
The airlift is being carried out in stages, based on risk levels and security assessments, a spokesperson for the Airports Authority said.
Large numbers of Israelis seeking to get home have converged on Cyprus, the European Union member state closest to Israel. Flights from the coastal city of Larnaca to Tel Aviv take 50 minutes.
Nine flights were expected to depart Cyprus on Wednesday for Haifa, and four for Tel Aviv, carrying about 1,000 people, sources at Cypriot airport operator Hermes said.
The carrier Arkia asked customers abroad to remain patient. “Tens of thousands of Israelis are still waiting to return home, and we are doing everything we can to bring them back quickly and safely,” it said in a statement.
Cruise operator Mano Maritime, whose “Crown Iris” ship carries 2,000 passengers, has said it will make two crossings from Cyprus to Israel‘s Mediterranean port city of Haifa.
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