Status: 2/2/2022 6:04 p.m
The Dutch publisher of the controversial book “The Betrayal of Anne Frank” has put a new edition on hold and apologized. Previously, there had been sharp criticism of the authors’ thesis.
The Dutch publisher Ambo Anthos has temporarily suspended a new edition of the controversial book “The Betrayal of Anne Frank”. The Amsterdam publisher also apologized to “anyone who feels offended by the book,” according to Dutch media reports. Jewish organizations demanded that the book be taken off the market altogether.
An international investigative team recently produced a book in which a Jewish notary public was named as a traitor to the hiding place of the Jewish girl Anne Frank. It is highly probable that he betrayed the hiding place to the National Socialists in 1944 in order to protect himself and his family from deportation. However, historians have been very critical and have spoken of gross errors. There is no evidence for the suspicion.
Authors of step “surprised”
The publisher, which owns the Dutch rights to the book, conceded in an internal letter to its authors that “a more critical stance would have been possible here”. He also called on the investigative team to comment on the criticism.
The latter called the publisher’s reaction a “complete surprise”. The leaders of the team would shortly comment in detail on the criticism.
EJC demands withdrawal from trading
The suspicion against the notary is “extremely speculative,” said the chairman of the Association of Jewish Organizations CJO, Ronny Naftaniel, the news agency ANP. The European Jewish Congress (EJC) called on the international publisher, the HarperCollins publishing group, to withdraw the book from the market.
From 1942 to 1944, eight Jewish people lived in hiding in the rear building in Amsterdam. It was there that Anne Frank (1929 – 1945) wrote her world-famous diary. After the betrayal, all residents were deported, only Anne’s father Otto survived.