What do these stage directions reveal about when the opening scene takes place ?

It takes place after the Franks have been captured.

Explanation:

The Franks and the others hiding in the Secret Annex were caught by the Gestapo, on August 4, 1944, and sent to concentration camps. The curtains in rags and furniture overturned seem to reflect that that event has already happened.

Otto, Anne Frank’s father, was the only one who survived and was freed from Auschwitz by Soviet troops on January 27, 1945.

cultural/diplomatic relations. most medieval japanese   culture has chinese origins. writing, architecture etc.

no options provided, here,but the answer to this question is often: a historian cites a japanese newspaper article published a year after the end of world war ii in order to draw conclusions about the effect of the war on the japanese economy.

clearly from the answer, the historian alludes to historical sources,and records to aid in analyzing and drawing conclusion on the effect of the war on the economy of japan.