Contemporary history is not a cold case
The Dutch publisher has pulled Rosemary Sullivan’s controversial book The Betrayal of Anne Frank from the market. A step that is overdue. The scandal shows how important the “tough work” of historians is.
Dhe supposed sensation is over after nine weeks: the Dutch publisher Ambo Anthos has withdrawn Rosemary Sullivan’s book about the “Betrayal of Anne Frank” from the market and has asked all booksellers to return any copies that are still available.
For the time being, this only applies to the Dutch translation; the original English edition, whose rights, like most of the other translations, are held by the world’s second largest book company, HarperCollins, has not yet made it through to it. When asked by WELT, Harper Collins’ German subsidiary was not yet able to announce a decision.
In view of the massive criticism of practically all experts on the central thesis of the volume, that the self-persecuted Amsterdam notary Arnold van den Bergh gave the Gestapo the decisive information about the hiding place of the Frank family, HarperCollins will hardly be able to act differently than Ambo Anthos.
This ends the attempt by a group led by former FBI investigator Vince Pankoke to solve an open question of contemporary history in the style of a “cold case” investigation staged to attract the public.
As much as non-specialists like to mock the careful evaluation of archive materials, the careful consideration of various fragments of information as “tough work” (Pankoke did not explicitly do so, but some of his public statements after the harsh rejection, which was obviously unexpected for him, clearly went in this direction): Once again it shows the bankruptcy of Rosemary Sullivan’s book that historians have good reason to insist on seriousness.
Sensation-seeking authors are quickly dealt with
You don’t have to use the particularly brazen example of the forged Hitler diaries, because similar mistakes were made by renowned publishers with books such as “Hitler’s Bomb” by Rainer Karlsch, “IBM and the Holocaust” by Edwin Black or “Hitler’s willing executors” by Daniel J Goldhagen. In all these cases, the sensationalist authors were quickly scientifically finished.
That’s the positive thing about such scandals: the public works as a corrective authority. Sometimes better, sometimes worse, of course – but still.