A new book claiming to have solved a mystery surrounding Anne Frank has been pulled by its Dutch publisher.
The decision to recall the book came after its findings involving who betrayed Frank and her family during the Second World War were discredited.
Those investigating the subject for the book, which was published in January, claimed that a Jewish man named Arnold van den Bergh was the one who led to their discovery and ensuing arrest,
However, a report by Second World War experts and Jewish historians have argued that the research featured in Canadian author Rosemary Sullivan’s book is unverified.
The European Jewish Congress, as well as van den Bergh’s granddaughter, is now urging publisher HarperCollins to pull its English language edition, stating its publication has tainted the memory of Frank as well as survivors of the Holocaust.
“With this story, you are exploiting the story of Anne Frank, you are falsifying history and you are contributing to great injustice,” the accused’s granddaughter said.
Frank, who was Jewish, wrote a diary about being in hiding from the Nazis for two years. After getting caught, she died in a concentration camp in 1945.
The book, titled The Betrayal of Anne Frank: A Cold Case Investigation, claimed that van den Bergh had most likely given up Frank’s location in order to save his family. But, experts have stated that “there is not any serious evidence for this grave accusation.”
Dutch publishing house Ambo Anthos have now pulled the release from bookshops, offering its “sincere apologies” to anyone who has been offended by its content.
The book’s chief investigator, Pieter van Twisk defended his team’s findings, saying they never claimed to have passed them off as the whole truth.
“Our theory is a theory and nothing more,” he told Dutch news agency ANP.
The Independent has contacted HarperCollins for comment.
