The Anne Frank House Museum, located in the house where Anne Frank and her family hid during the Second World War and where she wrote her famous diary, opened its doors 50 years ago this week. What's it like to work here? Does this place, where history is so close and the past tangible, become ordinary or does it stay special, even when you come here every day?

As usual, there is a long queue at the entrance to the Anne Frank House Museum. This is where Anne Frank, a young Jewish girl, hid for two years during the war. Eventually she was betrayed and along with her family and four other people deported to a concentration camp. Her father Otto survived and returned to the Netherlands. On 3 May 1960, he opened the museum, which is now visited by around a million people from all over the world every year.

Groups of children
A class of schoolchildren listen to Jurmet de Waal, head of the group visits section. Afterwards they ask questions: “Did they find any other diaries apart from the one with the red and white cover? Why did she argue with her mother so much? Who made the bookcase? What happened to the Van Pels family? How come the Germans didn't know they were hiding here?”

Jurmet de Waal has a group of 11 and 12-year-olds with her this morning. The museum is expecting another seven groups for the educational programme throughout the day. They are taken through the exhibition in small groups.

A deep impression
"I came here when I was studying for my teaching certificate. It made a deep impression on me and still does," says Ms de Waal. She continues, "I try to go through the museum every day. Because I know what happened here, I experience this place differently from the majority of visitors. You could almost say that this has become part of me."

Bookcase
We stop in front of the bookcase that concealed the entrance to the annex, where the eight Jewish fugitives hid during the war. Jurmet de Waal tells me, "It gives me a special feeling when I step into the secret annex. I think about the eight people that hid here; they must have been terrified. But I can walk out of here, go outside, and go anywhere. That’s an enormous difference. To think that something like that could happen here, here in the Netherlands where we live. And that affects me every day".

The Anne Frank House Museum is located in a 17th century house in the heart of Amsterdam. However, many visitors start their tour in a building that was added in 1999. In order to reach the annex, they have to climb a series of narrow staircases and go through a narrow gap in the wall behind a bookcase.

Every year, a million pairs of feet walk the polished floorboards; some of those million visitors perhaps reach out a hand to touch the door or the wallpaper in Anne's room. The photographs that Anne cut out of newspapers are still on the walls, protected by plexiglass. The windows are covered, just as they were when the Frank family and four others hid there. It must be a huge job to keep the museum in pristine shape.

Jurmet de Waal's group of children are in the kitchen in the annex. One girl whispers, "It's a bit scary here, it's so dark. There's so little furniture in this room". Her classmates say it's fun. "Fun?" someone asks. "No, it's interesting," answers another child. One of the boys asks, "It's so small here, did people really hide in places that were smaller than this?"

Knowing what happened
Ms De Waal was always interested in the history of the persecution of the Jews. "Of course, it’s not an easy subject to work with. It's partly work and partly personal interest. Sometimes I say, enough is enough, I'll start again on Monday".

But why does she do it then? "I think it's extremely important that children know what happened here in the Netherlands, to the Jews and others. I really want to try and give children the idea that they have a choice in life and that they are responsible for those choices. Racism and discrimination are still rampant across the world. I hope that children will learn from this history, our history, and think 'what can I do to stop this happening ever again?’”

Anne Frank's original diary went on display at the museum at the beginning of May. An interactive tour through the museum was also launched to coincide with the museum’s 50th anniversary.