Anne Frank Seedling Headed for Yad Vashem
A sapling from the chestnut tree that Anne Frank wrote about in her diary will be planted at Yad Vashem.
The sapling, donated by The Anne Frank House in Amsterdam, was taken from the 150-year-old tree that was toppled by a storm in August 2010. A fungus and insect infestation had weakened the tree.
At Yad Vashem, the sapling will be planted near the Children’s Memorial and International School for Holocaust Studies. Among those scheduled to attend the ceremony is Hanna Pick, a Holocaust survivor and friend of Anne Frank.
Saplings have been sent to institutions around the world.
A global campaign to save the rotting tree was launched in 2007 after Amsterdam officials deemed it a safety hazard. City workers caged the trunk in a steel structure to protect it, but the storm proved too strong.
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. 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.
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