Who betrayed the hideout of tourist Ann Frank and his family above a warehouse in Amsterdam? Six years after the inquest into his death, a panel of historians and criminologists named the suspect.
About 20 historians, criminologists and researchers, as well as retired FBI agent Vincent Bangkok, suspect Jewish notary Arnold van den Berg. Some other experts, however, point out that the evidence is not conclusive.
On August 4, 1944, after hiding for about two years in a warehouse in Amsterdam, the Nazis discovered seven Jews, including Anne and her family. They were all deported. Anne died in 1945 at the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp. She was 15 then.
The research team concluded that Van Den Berg’s betrayal of the Bronx’s hideout to save his own family was “very likely,” Peter van Twisk, one of the team’s members, told the NRC.
Anne Frank. Photo taken in 1941 annefrank.org.uk
He had access to information
Researchers have found that Van de Berg, who died in 1950 as a member of the Jewish Council in Amsterdam during the war, had access to information about the hideout.
Eric Somers, historian of the Dutch Institute for Research on War, Holocaust and Genocide (NIOD), praised the researchers’ extensive and diverse work, but said he was skeptical of its results.
Van den Berg told the Reuters agency that he had been identified as a suspect, based on an anonymous reference to his name and speculation about Jewish institutions operating in Amsterdam during the war, which other historical studies have not confirmed.
“They seem to be working on the presumption of guilt (of van den Berg), and they have found a motive to do so,” Somers said. According to him, there are many other reasons why notaries should not be deported because he is a very influential man.
Photo of Anne Frank on the memorial plaque Reuters
Highlight one of the greatest mysteries of the Netherlands
Ronald Leopold, director of the Anne Frank House, said the study provided important new information and was “a fascinating hypothesis worthy of further investigation.”
The attempt to identify the traitor was not intended to lead to criminal activity, but to shed light on one of the great mysteries of the Netherlands during World War II.
The team used modern research techniques and compiled its database from a list of Nazi collaborators, informants, historical documents, police data and previous research. To identify the suspect, several dozen scenes and locations of potential suspects were displayed on the map, taking into account knowledge of the hidden location, speculated motives and possibilities.
The results of the study will be published in the book The Betrayal of Anne Frank by Canadian author Rosemary Sullivan on Tuesday.
Where Anne Frank and her family are hiding above a warehouse in AmsterdamReuters
The hiding place may have been found by accident
Over the past decades, dozens of people have been identified as traitors to Anne Frank’s hideout. The House of Ann Frank in its 2016 study concluded that the discovery of Anne’s whereabouts may also have happened by accident.
Anne Frank began her diary on June 12, 1942, her 13th birthday. It was owned by Meep Keys, one of the helpers of the late Frank’s family, who handed it over to Anne’s father, Otto, after the war.
The magazine was published in 1947. Has been translated into more than 60 languages so far.
Key Photo Source: annefrank.org.uk