Anne Frank apartment will house writers

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AMSTERDAM, Netherlands, Jan. 18 (UPI) -- The Amsterdam apartment where Anne Frank lived before she and her family went into hiding from the Nazis will become a residence for persecuted writers.

A local housing association joined hands with the Anne Frank Museum to make the little-known apartment into a guest residence. The Franks lived a happy life there from 1933 to 1942 and it was there she began her famous diary.

"It is fitting that Anne's former home should become a refuge for writers who are threatened with persecution or censorship," said Maarten Asscher, chairman of the Amsterdam City of Asylum Foundation in announcing the project.

While living in the apartment Anne celebrated her 13th birthday and received as a gift the diary in which she later described her life as a young Jewish girl in hiding from the Nazi occupiers of The Netherlands.

Patricia Bosboom, a spokesman for the Anne Frank Museum, said the diary and other sources describe the Frank family's life in the apartment as "very happy."