The series is a moving journey filled with special encounters and personal reflections, complemented by historical footage.
Launch of the series 'Anne Frank was here'
Leyb Elias in the small room in the Annex that Anne shared with fellow hider Fritz Pfeffer
Copyright Anne Frank House, photographer Rosa Krastel
April 15, 2026 — On Thursday, April 16, 2026, at 5:00 PM CEST, the Anne Frank House, in collaboration with Every Media, will launch the new eight-part series Anne Frank was here on YouTube. Leyb Elias, actor, activist and a relative of Anne Frank, visits the places Anne Frank once went and takes viewers along in Anne’s footsteps.
‘Dear Anne, it’s me, Leyb. My grandfather, Buddy, was your favorite cousin. That makes you my distant cousin. You have always been part of my life. And I feel the responsibility to keep your story alive and to make a difference today.’
Leyb continues: “I have been everywhere: Frankfurt, where you were born. Amsterdam, where you grew up and had to go into hiding. And then the camps you were sent to: Westerbork, Auschwitz, and finally Bergen-Belsen, where you died at the age of just fifteen. But your story did not end there. Dear Anne, your story does not have a happy ending. But it also offers hope.”
Special encounters
During the journey, Leyb has several remarkable encounters. In Anne Frank’s former home in Amsterdam, Leyb meets refugee writer Mohamedou Ould Slahi, who was wrongfully imprisoned for fourteen years as a result of 9/11 and is temporarily living and working in the house. In the Liberal Jewish synagogue, Leyb speaks with Jewish youth about prejudice and antisemitism and learns more about the project Get to know your neighbours. Leyb also meets politicians Itay Garmy and Sheher Khan—one Jewish, the other Muslim—who visit schools and speak with students about Jewish and Muslim identity, exclusion, and the importance of dialogue, connection, and human rights. At the former transit camp Westerbork, Leyb meets survivor Eva Weyl, and at the former extermination camp Auschwitz, survivor Bella Eisenman. Both share their powerful stories and insights. In Buenos Aires—where Anne herself never went—Leyb speaks with young people from the Centro Ana Frank. Leyb discovers how far Anne Frank’s story reaches and how it inspires young people even in Argentina to make a difference.
Family home in Basel
Leyb also visits the family home in Basel. There, together with sister Hannah, Leyb looks at photographs of their grandfather Buddy Elias, who passed away in 2015 and who told them about his cousin Anne and the close bond they shared. After a career as an actor, Buddy Elias dedicated himself to preserving the memory of Anne Frank and all victims of National Socialism. In the spirit of Buddy and Anne, Leyb and Hannah want to open their family home for events and gatherings, creating a space where people from different backgrounds and beliefs can meet and learn from one another.
Changing the world slowly
Reflecting on the journey, Leyb says: “Dear Anne, this journey ends here. But the responsibility I feel, this confrontation with our history, will always remain. Because of the phenomenon you have become, I have been given a voice. I feel that I have no choice but to act. Because hatred, discrimination, and violence are not limited to one time, one place, or one people. But do you know what is everywhere too? Hope. In my view, that was something you truly excelled in. And that is what I hold on to. You believed that we can all make a difference. And you were right when you wrote the most meaningful thought: ‘How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world slowly.’”
The trailer for the series, along with some historical photos and images of Leyb Elias, is available for the press to download: