In an emotional ceremony that took place recently, the Press Office of Panama presented Anne Frank with a symbolic journalist certificate.
The local journalists' organization carried out the gesture because in Anna's diary she expressed her dream of becoming a journalist when she grows up, but this did not work out due to the tragic circumstances in which her life ended, when she was murdered by the Nazis.
The gesture is an initiative of the Israeli delegation in Panama, and it is intended to recognize Anne Frank's contribution to preserving the memory and informing humanity of what happened in the Holocaust - as a full-fledged journalist.
"The fact that the Association of Journalists officially recognized Anne Frank as a journalist is first of all a personal achievement and the fulfillment of a dream of a girl who was able to describe with wonderful eloquence what was happening around her during a dark time, the people who surrounded her, her feelings and her dreams," said Itay Bar Dev, Israel's ambassador to Panama, who received the certificate in Anna's name.
Bar Dov added that "Furthermore, this is an extremely important symbolic step, in a region that is not always aware or understands the depth of Nazi evil. The exposure to the subject of the Holocaust in Latin America is not at all similar to the level we are familiar with in Israel, and therefore such gestures are very helpful in deepening the understanding and making the Holocaust accessible to audiences who are not normally exposed to it. In cooperation with the embassy in The Hague, we intend to transfer the certificate to the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam, so that the large audience that visits the place will know that Anne has fulfilled her dream and is a journalist for everything."
Israeli Ambassador to Panama Itai Bar Dov receives the journalist's certificate in the name of Anne Frank, photo: Israeli Embassy in Panama
Anneliese Marie Frank, affectionately known as Anna, was born in Germany and was murdered at the age of 15 in the Bergen-Belsen extermination camp, along with most of her immediate family.
While staying with her family in a well-hidden hideout in an apartment building in Amsterdam, she wrote a diary, which was published as a book after her death.
The diary, which became a bestseller, became known for the talent and eloquence with which it described the horror and hardships of life in the underground, while the Nazis hunted down Jews in order to send them to the extermination camps.
Anna was captured along with her relatives on the morning of August 4, 1944. The identity of the informant about the Frank family members is still unknown.
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