Dutch publisher drops book ‘revealing’ Jewish man betrayed Anne Frank
A DUTCH publisher has dropped a controversial new book that claims a Jewish notary may have betrayed Anne Frank to the Nazis.
Published last month, Rosemary Sullivan’s The Betrayal Of Anne Frank identifies Arnold van den Bergh as the possible informant.
He is said to have handed over addresses of Jews hiding in Amsterdam to the Nazis to save his own skin, and is believed to have died in 1950,
The book was published with great fanfare, with its startling claims said to be based on a six-year investigation led by ex-FBI agent Vince Pankoke.
Expert historians and criminologists used artificial intelligence to sift through records and eventually suggest van der Bergh was the source. But John Goldsmith, president of the Anne Frank Fund, told Swiss newspaper Blick am Sonntag that the book does not help uncover the truth and “is full of
errors”. Amsterdam-based firm Ambo Anthos, which carries the Dutch edition of the book, said in an email to its author Ms Sullivan that it should have taken a more “critical stance”, Reuters reported on Monday.
“We are delaying the decision to print another run,” the email said. “We offer our sincere apologies to anyone who might feel offended by the book.”
The investigation managed to authenticate an anonymous postwar
note sent to Anne’s father Otto claiming Mr van den Bergh had access to information through his role within Amsterdam’s Jewish Council.
But Dutch historian Erik Somers told Reuters that the research team “seem to work from the point of view that he was guilty and found a motive to fit that”.
Previous research suggested the hideout was possibly found by chance during a raid over ration fraud.