After years of inquiry, authorities now have a name for Anne Frank’s traitor. The new report also provides some insight into what happened to Anne Frank and the rest of her family.
Anne Frank’s diary is one of the most famous accounts of the Jewish persecution during the Holocaust. After two years in hiding, she died in a concentration camp in 1945. Her story serves as a universal reminder of the darkness of human nature in the face of hate and violence. Though she served as a timeless figure of hope and innocence, Anne Frank’s age when she died was only 15.
The truth after 77 years
A new investigation has identified a suspect who is likely to have sold information on Anne Frank and her family to the Nazis. According to the team, the suspect named Arnold van der Bergh gave the Nazis information about the Franks to save his own family.
Former FBI agent Vince Pankoke revealed the brand new detail in the CBS program, 60 Minutes.
A team of historians and experts reopened the cold case six years ago, intent on finding new Anne Frank facts. Members used modern solutions such as computer algorithms to search for connections between different people involved in the Franks’ life. Something that, previously, would have taken thousands of hours of investigation.
According to the report, Van der Bergh was a member of the Jewish Council in Amsterdam. The body was forced to comply and implement Nazi policies in Jewish parts of town. It was disbanded in 1943, and most of its members were sent to concentration camps shortly after.
However, Van der Bergh and his family were living normally in Amsterdam at that time. Pankoke told reporters that Van der Bergh had to provide valuable information in exchange for freedom.
On the suspect
The team revealed that they struggled with receiving the news that another Jewish figure was responsible for the Franks’ death. However, they also found evidence suggesting that Anne’s father, Otto Frank, had known. Instead of revealing it to his family, however, he kept mum.
The team found a copy of a note sent to Otto Frank identifying Van den Bergh as the traitor.
As it happens, the note was in the files of a previous investigator.
Pankoke told 60 Minutes that the previous investigator might not have wanted to fuel the fires of anti-Semitism, which is why he kept the information secret. He adds, however, that the Nazis were the ones who gave Van der Bergh the deadly ultimatum. According to a Dutch newspaper, de Volkskrant, Van der Bergh died in 1950.
The aftermath
The report gained the attention of the Anne Frank House Museum. Ronald Leopold, the executive director, added that the research made “a fascinating hypothesis.” Also, in a statement posted online, the museum expressed how they were “impressed” with the research. Though they were not directly involved, the museum lent archival files to help the team.
However, the report also received flak from some figures. Emeritus professor of Holocaust and Genocide studies Johannes Houwink ten Cate raised doubts on the report. The professor said if there were lists of Jewish people in hiding, the information would have surfaced now.
Meanwhile, Bart van der Boom from the University of Leiden called it “defamatory nonsense.” He believes we may never know the true faces behind Anne Frank’s death.
There are lingering doubts about the accuracy of the report. At the same time, it is hard to uncover the truth of things that happened so many years ago. However, one thing remains certain: Anne Frank’s story is still very much valued as a piece of history and will continue to be so for the years to come.
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