Anne Frank House

by Cinegram Media

Product Details

• Shipping Weight: 14.9 ounces
• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B000053F9D
• Date first available at Amazon.com: October 31, 2000
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #19,741 in Software (See Top 100 in Software)
  • #73 in Software > Education & Reference > History
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes

Product Description

Amazon.com Review

Visit het achterhuis on the Prinsengracht in Amsterdam and explore the annex where Anne Frank wrote her renowned diary. With more than 1,000 historical photos, over 15 video films, and four hours of spoken text, Anne Frank House presents a complete picture of all the details Anne sought to capture in her diary. The software even includes a copy of Anne's diary, complete with 30 percent more material than the original published version.

Install the application and within minutes you'll have access to not only the program, but the Anne Frank Web site as well. The software is set up to resemble the actual house where Anne and her family hid during World War II. Using the mouse, we were able to navigate our way through different rooms throughout the building, as well as other buildings in the surrounding area. The program does an amazing job of capturing the neighborhood in which the family hid for all those years, as well as the actual rooms and corridors of their secret annex.

Aside from a virtual tour of the house, complete with posters on the wall and food on the table, the program comes complete with dozens of short stories and explanations about the lives of all the occupants of 123 Prinsengracht. Click on the revolving cube that sits in the lower left-hand corner of your screen and choose from a number of options, including Timelines, People, Hidden Places, and more. We especially appreciated the outline of a typical day in the annex, where clicking on a particular time would launch a detailed explanation of what went on in the house at that particular hour.

While the program may seem a bit overwhelming at times, mainly because of the large scope of information offered, it just takes a little time and practice to adjust to the application. In addition, a helpful lost-and-found navigation feature makes it easy to move around the software without losing your bearings. However, we found that sometimes the best way to experience this type of program is simply to point and click and see where it takes you. And if you do get stumped on a term or expression, the comprehensive glossary and help section is usually accessible from wherever you may be in the application.

Designed for both students and teachers, Anne Frank House takes a comprehensive yet sensitive look at the complete story of Anne Frank, the families in hiding, and the vast, sometimes incomprehensible war that unfolded before their very eyes. --Gisele Toueg

Amazon.com Product Description

Explore the house on the Prinsengracht in Amsterdam where Anne Frank wrote her diary Het achterhuis (The annex). In cooperation with the Anne Frank Museum, the house was specially arranged to correspond to the way it was during Anne's period in hiding. This CD-ROM, designed for both students and adults, is presented in clear language, and uses vivid images and film material. A complete picture of everything involving Anne Frank is presented in detail: her family, the house, the war, and the conditions of the Frank family's hidden life. See the house as if you were there. Visit rooms, become acquainted with the people involved, and learn history in a unique and personal manner. The CD-ROM features more than 1,000 historical photos, 15 video files (including the only moving pictures of Anne Frank), over 300 slideshows, and four hours of spoken text and other audio effects.

This package also includes the book The Diary of a Young Girl: The Definitive Edition by Anne Frank. The original diary, edited into a shorter version by Otto Frank, omitted selected material from Anne Frank's original diary and her own rewritten and edited version. The Definitive Edition contains passages from Anne's original writings that add approximately 30 percent more material.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Next Best Thing to Being There..., November 27, 2000

By 

Thomas R. Gough (Sydney) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Anne Frank House (CD-ROM)

Wow! What a fantastic resource! For anyone who's ever been captured by Anne Frank's words or moved by a visit to the Anne Frank Huis in Amsterdam, or for anyone interested in getting a personal insight into the lives of people living through the Second World War, this is the resource for you.

The CD is very easy to use, and as soon as you begin, you are immediately transported to the street in front of 263 Prinsengracht, the offices of Opekta behind which stands the Achterhuis in which the Franks, the Van Pels' and Dr Pfeffer hid for two years. A twist of the mouse and you can look around, up, down, across the canal and click on a myriad of items to get an impression of the place, both then and now. The virtual reality is enhanced by subtle sound effects, including the occasional chiming of the Westertoren bells, about which Anne wrote.

Mouse clicks lead you through every room of the house, and you can examine the rooms and many of their artefacts in detail. You can even go into Otto Frank's office and switch on the radio!

Right clicks or keystrokes reveal detailed information timelines, extracts from the diary, photographs, video sequences, interviews and even moving film (in both senses) of Anne herself.

The CD can run a little roughly on slower machines, and I found it very useful to know my way around the building from a recent visit to know which doors to open, but this is an outstanding example of a technology attaining its educational potential.

Very highly recommended!

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars EXCELLENT SOFTWARE!!!, May 31, 2001

A Kid's Review

This review is from: Anne Frank House (CD-ROM)

This is an excellent program! I recieved it as an early birthday present. Since I learned about Anne Frank and the holocaust, I have always wanted to visit the secret annex where the Franks, Van Pels, and Mr. Pfefer hid for two years before they were captured and sent to various concentration camps by the Nazis. This program is the next best thing to actually visting the Anne Frank house. (Het Achterhuis as the Dutch call it.) It makes it seem like you are actually there. You can tour Prisengracht, the street where the annex is located, Anne's father's office building and the secret annex itself. You can learn about the people in hiding, the helpers, and possible suspects of people who betrayed them. There is a glossary of many terms used in the holocaust. (i.e. aryan, concentration camp, Nazis) There are MANY different videos and excerpts from the diary and the software even comes with a better revised version of it for FREE. I would definetly reccomend this to anyone who is interested in learning more about the Holocaust, or Anne Frank.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars It's Wonderful, February 16, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Anne Frank House (CD-ROM)

This CD is wonderful, ever since I was 13 (a long time ago) when I first read Anne's diary I have tried to picture the house from the floor plan. I could never quit get it clear in my mind. Now I know why, the floor plan does not show the bottom floor or the attic in the hiding place. And of course I have wished that I could travel to Holland and see it. Now it's almost as if I have. It is a very complicated house, and when I finally found the book case, I was just overcome with emotion. There it is, just the way she described it. When I clicked on it and it opened, I entered into Anne's world. The only thing the CD doesn't do that I wished that it did, is to let you go look out the window in the attic and see the Clock. But that is a minor detail, it is just like being there, birds singing, footsteps as you look around. Just wonderful!!!!