A book published earlier this year, which claimed to reveal the person who betrayed Anne Frank and her family, has been pulled by its publisher. This is after the book was heavily criticised and discredited.
Anne Frank and her family had hidden from the Nazis from 1942 to 1944 before being discovered. Frank is believed to have died in Auschwitz, aged 15. Her father, Otto, was the only surviving family member. Frank’s diary, chronicling her experience in hiding, was published after the war, and became one of the most well-known accounts of the war.
The book, entitled The Betrayal of Anne Frank, was the result of a six-year investigation and claimed that a Dutch Jew, Arnold van den Bergh, had been responsible for turning in Frank and her family. However, the book was criticised by Jewish groups which said it tarnished the memories of Holocaust survivors. A report investigating the book said: ‘There is not any serious evidence for this grave accusation’ and that the book was ‘amateurish’.
Van den Bergh’s granddaughter was also quoted as saying: ‘With this story, you are exploiting the story of Anne Frank, you are falsifying history and you are contributing to great injustice.’
The Dutch publisher has pulled the Dutch edition from sale. It is not clear whether its English publisher, HarperCollins, will follow suit.