“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
Why I became the Forward’s Editor-in-Chief
You are surely a friend of the Forward if you’re reading this. And so it’s with excitement and awe — of all that the Forward is, was, and will be — that I introduce myself to you as the Forward’s newest editor-in-chief.
And what a time to step into the leadership of this storied Jewish institution! For 129 years, the Forward has shaped and told the American Jewish story. I’m stepping in at an intense time for Jews the world over. We urgently need the Forward’s courageous, unflinching journalism — not only as a source of reliable information, but to provide inspiration, healing and hope.
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
