Anne Frank wrote: “I don’t want to have lived in vain. I want to be useful even for those I’ve never met”. Staying truthful to Anne’s words, the Anne Frank House wanted to introduce a new platform to engage the public on the discussions around growing antisemitism, racism, inequality – which naturally includes gender representation – and prejudice.

The Bookcase for Tolerance uses the power of personal testimonials to educate people, in order to influence their attitude and behaviour towards those considered to be ‘different’. The app provides a unique insight into the lives of Anne Frank and four young adults suffering persecution today, including Mees, a transgender man who is not always accepted for who he is, and Dalit, a Jewish feminist. The goal was to make intolerance a topic of discussion to help counter it – all by using the power of personal testimonies through an immersive app.

In 2020, Dutch police registered a 12% increase in discrimination reports over the previous year, Germany recorded 23k far-right attacks. This growing intolerance means we cannot take any civil liberty for granted. Also, many forms of modern persecution persist in Europe, including antisemitism, racism, inequality, and prejudice.

The Bookcase for Tolerance was launched on the UNESCO International Day for Tolerance, the 16th of November of 2021. The issue of gender representation is at the core of the project, with Mees and Dalit – a transgender man and a Jewish feminist and illustrator – sharing their personal testimonials in order to shed a light on this topic and influencing people’s behaviour towards those considered to be ‘different’.

Quickly becoming a central piece of discussion in Dutch society, and beyond, the AR app was downloaded in 100+ countries, reaching multiple audiences thanks to the different online sites, such as traditional news outlets like BBC, Yahoo Japan and Chelsea, and technological outlets like TechCrunch, FWA and NU. The app has been adopted by schools across Europe, bringing the debate inside classrooms, and it's also a permanent platform for discussions at the Anne Frank House.

Between 1942 and 1944, Anne Frank escaped Nazi persecution by living in a secret annex concealed by a custom-built bookcase. Eighty years later, young adults are facing a sharp rise in discrimination, and just like her, needed their stories and struggles to be heard. We repurposed Anne's iconic bookcase and turned it into an AR app, so visitors could explore 3D-rendered, true-to-life models of the rooms of Anne Frank and four young people suffering modern day persecution, interacting with personal objects and listening to audio clips. With the power of their testimonials, The Bookcase for Tolerance helps fight discrimination through education.

We wanted to target a broad audience with this campaign, as it's critical that the topic of tolerance is spread wide – especially to people who are not necessarily looking for it. However, we were aware of the small budget. That's why we decided on a focused approach, targeting schools and the AFH network of educators, who introduced the app as part of their educational program. We also approached influencers who usually create content about racism, discrimination, and inequality so that they could spread it across their communities. Additionally, we provided an Instagram filter (“I stand for tolerance”) so that anyone could help us with spreading the message.

This strategy resulted in a substantial amount of earned media, with the campaign being picked up by mainstream news across the world – gaining enough visibility to be seen by those who we originally intended to with our #DontHateEducate message.

The Bookcase for Tolerance provides a unique insight into the lives of Anne Frank and four young adults suffering persecution today. Developed using photogrammetry – a spatial scanning technique – it features 5 protagonists whose rooms were carefully modelled and rendered in 3D. Each room contains several personal objects, allowing users to unlock their stories and struggles.

Launched on the UNESCO International Day for Tolerance, the 16November2021, the project quickly became a central piece of discussion in Dutch society – and beyond – as it was released in English, German, Dutch, Portuguese and Spanish. The AR app reached multiple audiences in more than 100 countries, in just 48 hours, thanks to traditional news outlets like BBC, Yahoo Japan and Chelsea, and technological outlets like TechCrunch, FWA and NU. It also brought the debate to classrooms across Europe and it's now a permanent platform for discussions at the Anne Frank House.

Education is a powerful way to counter antisemitism, prejudice, inequality, and discrimination. By sharing personal stories of young people who face intolerance in their daily lives, we sparked debates in Dutch society and introduced our message in classrooms across Europe, changing the perception towards those who are considered "different".

The app was downloaded in 100+ countries, in just 48 hours, and now serves as a permanent educational platform at the Anne Frank House. The project was uploaded to main social media platforms like Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. In the span of a week, the app and docuseries quickly reached thousands of views. But most importantly, it generated multiple comments of people’s support, as well as those who feel the need to openly discuss the subject.