Did a Jewish notary betray Anne Frank and her family to the Nazis?
About two weeks ago, an international research team presented this thesis and published their collected research results in a book. But immediately after the publication there was criticism.
Now the publisher, who is responsible for the Dutch translation of the book “The Betrayal of Anne Frank” (Eng. “Betrayal of Anne Frank”), has stopped printing – they want to wait for the research team’s answers to the questions raised and the Only then continue printing the book.
This emerges from a letter that the publisher sent to the authors on Monday morning, as reported by the “NRC Handelsblad”.
The publisher also apologized to “anyone who feels offended by the book”.
Photo: Jerry Lampen/REUTERS
” data-zoom-src=”https://bilder.bild.de/fotos/in-einer-hinterhaus-an-der-amsterdamer-prinsengracht-263-hidden-anne-frank-und-ihre-familie- cbc43f22b6994e8bbc7a645b75f14815-79002288/image/2.image.jpg”/> Anne Frank and her family hid from the National Socialists in a rear building at Amsterdam’s Prinsengracht 263Photo: Jerry Lampen/REUTERS
︎ On January 18, the book “The Betrayal of Anne Frank” (Eng. “Treason to Anne Frank”) by Canadian writer Rosemary Sullivan was published. The basic thesis of the book: the Jewish notary Arnold van den Bergh is said to have betrayed the Franks’ hiding place in a rear building in Amsterdam to the National Socialists in order to protect his own family from death.
An international research team had been researching the Franks’ betrayal for five years, the main evidence for their final thesis: a copy of an anonymous letter that Anne’s father Otto Frank received in 1946. The name of the notary is already mentioned therein. The original of the letter has disappeared, but according to the research team, a copy was found in the Amsterdam City Archives.
BUT: Immediately after the publication of this thesis, there was harsh criticism from historians. Historian Bart van der Boom called the revelations “slanderous nonsense” and Amsterdam historian Ben Wallet said the evidence was “as shaky as a house of cards”. The theory of the research group remains speculation.
The Dutch publishing house “Ambo Anthos” now wrote that a “more critical attitude could have been taken”. Printing of the book is suspended until the research team answers the questions raised.