Heated debate in Saxony-Anhalt
Kita no longer wants to be called after “Anne Frank” – and its name change is causing outrage
The “Anne Frank” daycare center in Tangerhütte: The request for a name change came from parents and employees
© Anne Frank in Tangerhütte / DPA
A daycare center in Saxony-Anhalt wants to change its name from “Anne Frank” to World Explorer and has caused a storm of indignation. The project is likely to be canceled.
Violence is escalating in the Middle East, and politicians in Germany are concerned about growing anti-Semitism. In this mixed situation, a change in the name of a daycare center in Saxony-Anhalt would pass silently by the public if it were any name. But considerations in Tangerhütte, the municipal daycare center “Giving “Anne Frank” a different name as part of a new educational concept is causing clear criticism against the background of current events – and it is remarkably unanimous. Removing the name “Anne Frank” currently “does not fit the times”, said Saxony-Anhalt’s anti-Semitism commissioner Wolfgang Schneiß on Monday.
Anne Frank was born in Frankfurt am Main in 1929 to Jewish parents. Her family fled to the Netherlands from the National Socialists in 1933. She hid there in a secret annex from 1942 to 1944. During this time, Anne Frank wrote a diary that is one of the most widely read works in world literature. Anne Frank died in the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp in 1945 at the age of 15.
Board of Trustees in Saxony-Anhalt for daycare name change
In Tangerhütte, “Anne Frank” could now give way to the name “World Explorer” – should a change occur. According to Mayor Andreas Brohm (independent), the discussion about this has been going on for a long time. After developing an educational concept for the daycare center with “fundamental changes,” the question arose as to how these changes could be made visible to the outside world, said Brohm. “We dealt with the daycare center. We didn’t deal with the legacy of Anne Frank.” He made it clear on Monday that nothing had been decided yet. “The discussion has now acquired a new dynamic and must now continue.”
The board of trustees of the municipal institution had spoken out in favor of the change. According to the Magdeburger “Volksstimme”, the wish to change the name came from parents and employees of the daycare center. The new name is more child-friendly, the story of Anne Frank is difficult to understand, especially for small children. “We wanted something without political background,” the daycare center management is quoted in the “Volksstimme”.
Anti-Semitism Commissioner Schneiß replied that there are certainly opportunities – including for children – to present the story of Anne Frank in a current way. “You can certainly convey that and, especially in a migration society, you even have to convey that.” You just have to look for options and discuss the planned name change again.
Critics consider the change to be a fatal signal
The Anne Frank educational institution described the possible name change as a fatal signal. This is especially true in view of the growing anti-Semitism in all parts of society, explained director Deborah Schnabel on Monday in Frankfurt. The renaming would “contribute to making Jewish life and Jewish victim stories invisible, the foundations of our culture of remembrance.”
The discussion with Anne Frank does not have to be overwhelming, but rather is a door opener to the discussion about human rights, democracy and discrimination as a whole. The International Auschwitz Committee criticized the plans and called for them to be reconsidered.
According to his spokesman, Saxony-Anhalt’s Prime Minister Reiner Haseloff (CDU) also has no understanding of the discussion about renaming the daycare center. “It is important to keep Jewish history alive in Saxony-Anhalt. Anne Frank and institutions named after her are also part of our culture of remembrance for Jewish life and against National Socialism,” explained Haseloff.
City council wants to reject change
According to the “Welt”, the parliamentary group leaders of the city council of the unified municipality of Tangerhütte have already announced that they want to reject the renaming at a city council meeting on Wednesday. All group leaders therefore supported a corresponding position paper. The claim that the name “Anne Frank” is difficult to convey to children is “more evidence of a forgetfulness of history on the part of those responsible,” according to the “Welt” in a joint statement by the city council factions.
In an open letter, the Executive Vice President of the International Auschwitz Committee, Christoph Heubner, criticized the planned renaming. He addressed the people of Tangerhütte: “If I had any advice to give, dear citizens of Tangerhütte, I would advise Anne Frank to fight and not to walk away wordlessly and sadly if she were to be chased away again in her German homeland. Maybe you’ll reconsider?”
There was a similar case around two years ago: after a public outcry, the “Anne Frank” daycare center in Elxleben, Thuringia, was not renamed. Decisive factors were, among other things, protests from the Jewish community. At that time, the chairman of the Jewish regional community, Reinhard Schramm, described the plans as frightening. At that time too, he raised the argument of growing anti-Semitism.
“It’s been two years now and we have a similar situation again,” said Schramm on Monday. The Jewish community maintains the demand to keep the name “Anne Frank” for the daycare centers.