Anne Frank Foundation Must Pay for Famed Tree
The foundation established to preserve Anne Frank’s famous chestnut tree must pay for its removal and storage, a Dutch court ruled.
The Amsterdam court ruled that the Support Anne Frank Tree Foundation, established in 2008, must pay the Van der Leij company some $20,000 for its work or the company does not have to return the tree’s remains.
The company had caged the trunk of the 150-year-old tree in a steel structure for protection after the tree was weakened by a fungus and insect infestation, but it was toppled by a storm in August 2010.
Van der Leij cut the tree “into very large pieces which were stored in a dry and ventilated area,” its spokesman Bram van Uchelen told the French news agency AFP. The foundation told AFP that it does not have the money to pay the company and probably never will
Anne Frank made several references to the tree in her famous diary, which she kept for the two years she and her family hid in the attic of an Amsterdam home. The last entry about the tree, on May 13, 1944, said that “Our chestnut tree is in full bloom. It’s covered with leaves and is even more beautiful than last year.” It reportedly cheered up Anne and gave her hope for the future.
Anne Frank died at Bergen-Belsen in March 1945.
Saplings from the tree have been sent to institutions around the world, including Yad Vashem in Jerusalem.
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning journalism this Passover.
In this age of misinformation, our work is needed like never before. We report on the news that matters most to American Jews, driven by truth, not ideology.
At a time when newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall. That means for the first time in our 126-year history, Forward journalism is free to everyone, everywhere. With an ongoing war, rising antisemitism, and a flood of disinformation that may affect the upcoming election, we believe that free and open access to Jewish journalism is imperative.
Readers like you make it all possible. Right now, we’re in the middle of our Passover Pledge Drive and we need 500 people to step up and make a gift to sustain our trustworthy, independent journalism.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Our Goal: 500 gifts during our Passover Pledge Drive!
