Anne Frank's tree to bloom again -- in the USA

October 19, 8:39 AMAlbuquerque Travel ExaminerNeala Schwartzberg

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In her famous diary, Anne Frank wrote: “Our horse chestnut is in full bloom thickly covered with leaves and much more beautiful than last year.”

The Story of Anne Frank

Anne Frank and her family spent two years in an attic in Amsterdam located in an empty section of the building owned by her father, Otto Frank's company in an attempt to survive the Nazi concentration camps. Her father’s employees – Miep Gies, Johannes Kleiman, Victor Kugler and Bep Voskuijl – provide food, clothing, and as many amenities as they can. Anne passed much of her time writing in her diary, and she hope to someday see it published.

But despite all good intentions, they were unable to provide freedom, and ultimately, they couldn't provide safety.

The Frank family was ultimately found by the Gestapo in 1944. Initially sent to a work camp, they were soon transferred to the infamous Auschwitz-Birkenau and then to the hellish Bergen-Belsen. Anne and her sister Margot die of typhus in March 1945. A few weeks later the camp is liberated by the British Army. Otto Frank survived Auschwitz and was liberated in January, 1945 returning to Amsterdam a few months later to search for his family. One of the employees, Miep Gies had found the protected the diary and papers and gave them to Frank. In accordance with her wishes, he publishes the diary which became the book and the movie, the Diary of Anne Frank.

The Chestnut Tree

Over the years the beloved chestnut tree became diseased and the seeds of the tree were carefully nurtured to become 11 saplings that the Anne Frank Foundation distributed to places around the USA.

According to the New York Times the horse chestnut was reaching the end of its life, so the Anne Frank Center began to accept requests from institutions that wanted one of the seedlings. The White House, the World Trade Center site in New York and the Children’s Museum of Indianapolis were promised trees and on October 16th the Anne Frank Center USA  announced the following groups would receive one of the saplings, although the New York Times reports that there is some discussion as to whether or not the White House will be able to accept one of the trees.

Here’s the list as provided by the Anne Frank Center:

• The White House (TBD) – DC
• The Children’s Museum of Indianapolis – Indiana
• Sonoma State University – California
• Southern Cayuga School District – New York
• Washington State Holocaust Resource Center – Washington
• Boston Common – Massachusetts
• Central High School – Arkansas
• Holocaust Memorial Center – Michigan
• Anne Frank Human Rights Memorial – Idaho
• William J. Clinton Foundation – Arkansas
• National September 11 Memorial – New York

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