“Anne & Frank” Amsterdam Bakery Changes Its Name After Sparking Outcry
Tourists line up in front of the Anne Frank House. Image by Getty
The unfortunately named and recently opened “Anne & Frank” Bakery has elected to change its name after an outcry on Twitter deemed it insensitive. The bakery is located around the corner from the Anne Frank House, which has become a popular tourist attraction. The media backlash was immediate, as Twitter lambasted owner Robert Barsoum for his choice to name his bakery after the famous Holocaust victim who died in Bergen Belsen.
“It seemed like a nice name to me,” Barosum told the local AT5 television station, adding that Anne Frank was “a hero to me too.”
This isn’t the first time people have used Anne Frank’s name for their own purposes. In 2013, popstar Justin Bieber said he hoped Anne Frank “would have been a Belieber.” A German railway company recently axed plans to name a train after Anne Frank.. She even has an asteroid named after her, the 5535 Annefrank.
According to social media, Barsoum has since removed the words Anne & Frank from the front window of the bakery.
Onder de Westertoren om de hoek van dat Achterhuis open je winkel vermomd als bakkerij en dan denk je even, heel even maar, na over de naam….. wtf .. (en ze kan er ook zweet krijgen). pic.twitter.com/Gk5bDUqDVU
— Ingrid Kerr (@ingridkerr) August 25, 2018
Shira Feder is a writer. She’s at [email protected] and @shirafeder
This is a moment of great uncertainty. Here’s what you can do about it.
We hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, we’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s independent Jewish news. All donations are still being matched by the Forward Board - up to $100,000 until April 24.
This is a moment of great uncertainty for the news media, for the Jewish people, and for our sacred democracy. It is a time of confusion and declining trust in public institutions. An era in which we need humans to report facts, conduct investigations that hold power to account, tell stories that matter and share honest discourse on all that divides us.
With no paywall or subscriptions, the Forward is entirely supported by readers like you. Every dollar you give is invested in the future of the Forward — and telling the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
The Forward doesn’t rely on funding from institutions like governments or your local Jewish federation. There are thousands of readers like you who give us $18 or $36 or $100 each month or year.
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
