Who Betrayed Anne Frank to the Nazis?

New evidence - not everyone agrees with it

Created: 01/19/2022 06:04

Anne Frank and her family hid from the Nazis for more than two years - before they were betrayed.

© -/ANP/dpa

Anne Frank's fate has been a mystery for decades.

New evidence seemed to shed light on who betrayed them.

But there are doubts.

Munich/Amsterdam - Who betrayed Anne Frank to the Nazis?

Historians have been pursuing this question for decades.

A newly emerged document causes a stir - but the thesis linked to it is criticized in specialist circles.

A team of historians, criminologists and an ex-FBI agent spent five years researching archives.

In 1944 the hiding place of eight people in a rear building in Amsterdam was exposed and it is still unclear today how it happened.

The story went around the world when Anne Frank's diaries were published.

Only Anne's father Otto survived the tragedy.

According to the new thesis, the Jewish notary Arnold van den Bergh is said to have been responsible for discovering the now famous apartment behind the bookcase.

However, the new evidence in the case is "very thin", says the Amsterdam professor for Holocaust and genocide studies, Johannes Houwink ten Cate, in the Dutch

.

Errors and inaccuracies in the investigation of the possible betrayal of Anne Frank

There is talk of errors and inaccuracies in the investigation.

Houwink ten Cate said there was no evidence against a treason by the Jewish Council.

Historian Ben Wallet told

that the accusation, which was only constructed on the basis of an anonymous letter, was more than questionable.

The evidence is "shaky like a house of cards".

Rumors abounded at the time.

“Van den Bergh was by no means the only one who was suspected of collaborating with the National Socialists because of his membership in the 'Judenrat',” says Wallet.

After the end of the war, investigations were carried out against him.

But the accusation of treason was never raised.

In general, historians lack the motive for the notary's betrayal.

He had previously gone into hiding due to the threat of deportation from the Netherlands and would therefore certainly have avoided attention at all costs.

The research team cites a copy of an anonymous letter that Otto Frank received after the war, in which the name of the notary is mentioned, as evidence.

It assumes that van den Bergh is said to have given the German occupiers "a whole list of addresses".