A free exhibition telling the story of Holocaust victim Anne Frank opened at the Town Hall last week to promote tolerance in the borough.

%image(15299296, type="article-full", alt="The "Anne Frank + You" exhibition is launched at the East Ham Town Hall.")

Among the speakers at Newham Town Hall in East Ham was anti-racism campaigner Doreen Lawrence, West Ham United chairman David Gold, Anne Frank Trust UK Co-Founder Gillian Walnes MBE, and Newham Mayor Sir Robin Wales.

The Anne Frank (+ You) exhibition, which runs until June 6, is described as a “dramatic multi-media experience” aimed at children and young people featuring a near life-size replica of her bedroom in the Secret Annexe where the Frank family hid from the Nazis for two years.

Launched on Wednesday, the display also includes newly-discovered photographs of Anne and her sister Margot with film footage and historical artefacts.

The Young Mayor of Newham Rebekah Dike represented the borough’s students alongside Esther Olusanya, a school ambassador from Kingsford Community School in Beckton who will be one of the trained visitor guides from local schools.

The Mayor said the exhibition gave a “powerful insight” into Anne’s experience while the Young Mayor added: “Anne Frank’s diary sends a strong message to all of us, something that I am sure we are all able to learn from.”