It caused a stir in the Netherlands and made headlines internationally: the publication of the book “Het verraad van Anne Frank” (The Betrayal of Anne Frank), which will also be published in German in March. It is about investigations into the traitor who, on August 4, 1944, called the Nazis and betrayed the group of Jewish people who were hiding in the back building at Prinsengracht 263 in Amsterdam. I am afraid that the spectacular outcome of this investigation, carried out by investigators from an international “cold case team” at the initiative of filmmaker Thijs Bayens with the support of retired FBI agent Vince Pankoke and researchers from home and abroad, is now changing finally burned into the collective memory: It was not an SS man, not a collaborator, not a black marketeer who made the call to the “Central Office for Jewish Emigration” which led to the arrest of the people in hiding – a Jewish notary was responsible for the death of Anne Frank. Arnold van den Bergh, a leading member of the Jewish Council, is said to have given the Nazi Security Service (SD) the addresses of various hiding places, including those of the Franks, in order to save his own family.
Did a Jewish notary betray Anne Frank? – Culture
