Anne Frank's Preservation

        The short article "The Sapling Project" describes what has happen to the remains of the tree that Anne Frank would look at everyday, as a source of hope and strength. It states the USA received 11 saplings that were then distributed to worthy holocaust memorial or institutions across the country. It also compares the meaning of the tree when it was in Amsterdam; hope, freedom, and a better future,  to the meaning and representations the samplings have in the U.S.; human right inequalities, segregation, and other on going struggles around the U.S.
      The second article "A Fight Over Anne Frank's Fallen Tree" describes the events that occurred before and after the tree feel. The tree which was more than 150 years old suffered from a fungal infection. It was then that board members of the Support Anne Frank Tree foundation decided to employ Rob van de Leij -a local contractor- to build a metal frame that would support the tree and extend its life for about 5 to 15 years. Sadly, the metal frame which cost a total of 170,000 to build and which 120,000 dollars were donated by Mr. Leij himself, did not work and the tree collapsed. This raised many speculations toward Mr. Leij, many believe that his work was of poor quality and that he didn't value the meaning of the tree, and when on to comparing Mr. Leij to a Nazi.
       The last article, "Anne Frank's Barrack Destroyed by Fire" informs us that the barrack in which Anne lived during a period of the holocaust was "mysteriously" destroyed by a fire. The article gives a short depiction of Anne's life when living in this Dutch work camp. It states that the camp had a hopeful mood and that Anne frequently spent time with her  boyfriend Peter. Unfortunately, there are no longer any tangible remains of the those memories.
        Over all, I found the articles to be very interesting. They all carried a similar theme of preserving Anne Frank's story not only through the means of her diary, but also by the things that surrounded her throughout this harsh period in her life. For instance, article one and two talk about the preservation of the tree, and the last article talks about the unfortunate event of losing the barack in which Anne once lived.
        I believe that this article draw such a great emphasis on preserving everything regarding Anne Frank, because although her book and legacy will live on forever, the tangible evidence will not unless it is preserved and maintain. For instance her book is similar to the bible, a book that has been translated and paraphrased by many, how genuine can people actually believe it to be. With the evidence of the tree which she writes about in her diary, the annex which she also describes in her diary, are all ways that fortify her story, and that is essential for the preservation of her life and legacy.

 

Anne Frank Relics

            The article talking about the saplings that were collected from the yard outside Anne Frank’s annex was basically just summarizing how the saplings were collected before the demise of the tree in 2010, and where these saplings were sent to. The New York Times article, however, details the struggle over the remains. Much less of a “feel-good” piece, it talks about how the tree was a “monument of hope” and how it was mishandled. There could have been a metal brace built for it apparently, but instead it was allowed to fall, because the metal brace was so expensive. After the tree fell, Rob van der Leij cleared the tree away, and he is now suing the foundation responsible for the tree. However, he says that money is not the key to this case, since he would donate it to charity, but that he really wants recognition. The Jewish Chronicle details another part of Anne Frank’s history: the barracks that she stayed in in the Westerbrok camp. The remains of the barracks were burned in an apparently suspicious fire, and the structure was lost completely.

            All of these articles dealt with relics from Anne’s life, but they all went about them in different ways. Though Anne Frank’s life is summarized forever in her diary, the physical remains of the places that she experienced are being slowly stripped away. I think that this is sad, of course, because it seems like a part of history is being washed away, but I believe that her diary is the most important part of the equation. While the physical sites that Anne saw are important, their importance is also limited by their remoteness. It is not a reality for everyone to travel and see the barracks that Anne was in, but everyone can pick up a copy of her diary and read about it.

            While it is important to think about the tree and the barracks, it is also important to remember that Anne Frank was not the only person that was involved in the Holocaust, and that there are other important places that other important people experienced. Not all of the barracks burned down; there are still some standing, and their significance should not be diminished just because they were not the ones that housed Anne Frank. The tree may be gone, but the saplings are being sent to other places so that the story can live on. I think that focusing on each tiny thing is counterproductive; the little things are important to Anne's story, but they are not the only things that people should focus on when studying the Holocaust. 

Anne Frank and her Legacy

Anne Frank’s legacy is one of the greatest resources we have in connecting the past to the present. Her story is one that has been told for generations through her father’s publishing of her diary, and through that her voice is known as being the Jewish “voice” of our generation.  That is why through many efforts we try to keep her legacy and story alive. The tree, a symbolic part of the diary was what Anne looked at as she envisioned her future. A future of living free, without the horrors and fears of hiding and a future of experiencing nature once again.

            In the Sapling Project it is described how Anne’s beloved tree collapsed in 2010. Because of the importance and symbolism of the tree the stewards at the Anne Frank house creating saplings that have been now distributed to numerous locations. In 2010 the saplings were cleared for planting and have now taken new homes all over the world.

            However, in the New York Times article by Sally McGrane, it is mentioned that after the tree collapsed, and before the saplings were distributed there were “nasty” disputes over the remains. Members of the Support Anne Frank Tree foundation are accusing the contractor they hired to build a metal brace hoping to extend the sick tree’s life, with botching the job and essentially killing the tree. The issue then was dividing up the pieces of the tree being that he now had the tree in his hands. There were accusations with money made against him. But, at the end of the day he explained, “it’s the Anne Frank Tree..This is our responsibility to do a good job with this.” Though there were disputes, the greatest issue is that individuals are trying to hold onto Anne’s legacy through tangible items.

             In Anne Frank’s barracks destroyed by fire by Jessica Elgot, it is described that there was a “suspicious” fire that occurred at the barracks at a Dutch work camp where Anne was held before being taken to Auschwitz. Though it is stated that, “it is sad that this important historical site is now lost.” That’s what it is—sad.

 Her story is the most important thing we have. There doesn’t need to be blame, fights, etc on what no longer exists. That is going against everything Anne wanted. She wanted individuals to have respect for one another, treat each other the way they wanted to be treated, and more than anything have tolerance.  She had dreams for the future, and didn’t live in the past. If Anne knew that there were “disputes” over where the remains of the tree was going, or about the barracks destroyed by the fire that would be exactly what she wouldn’t want her legacy to represent. The saplings indicate future. They show hope for upcoming generations—and that is what the story of Anne Frank should teach us.

The Cult of Anne Frank

The Sapling Project website described the project of planting 11 horse chestnut saplings throughout the United States. These saplings were taken from the large tree that grew behind the Secret Annex (and which collapsed from disease in 2010) and cleared for planting this winter. Anne Frank used to look at this tree, as evidenced by several diary entries – the tree represented freedom and nature for her, neither of which she could enjoy while in hiding. The saplings are intended to remind of the horrors of the Holocaust, but also of local discrimination, such as that of race or gender. Some of the locations are: the White House, Liberty Park (Commemorating 9/11), and the Michigan Holocaust Memorial Center. The New York Times article about the fallen tree, which had been sick for a long time and was supposed to be felled, but remained due to protests from neighbors and arborists that the tree is a symbol of hope. The tree was already over 150 years old, and it was supposed to be able to survive about 10 more (give or take 5), and a metal brace (costing $170,000) was built to extend the tree’s life. However, the tree fell despite the brace, and a hot debate ensued: who was at fault? The debate was nasty, employing Holocaust analogies, each party clawing at the other and the tree hanging in limbo: the foundation wanted to take the tree and reuse its wood in symbolic ways, but the local contractor who built the brace has legal possession of the fallen tree.

This article struck me as rather preposterous. I understand that the tree is seen as a symbol of hope, freedom, etc., but when the day is done, it is a tree. Trees fall. Especially old trees. No one can be blamed for that, and it seems ridiculous to waste $170,000 to extend the life of a 150-YO tree by 5-15 years. In fact, it seems silly to me to attach special importance to this tree at all – there are probably thousands of trees surrounding concentration camps that represented freedom and hope to the prisoners, but should we invest such sums of money to protect each of those trees? Should we obsessively protect every little thing that happened across the way of victims of genocide? This reminded me of a trip I took in Russia to the place of exile of the poet Pushkin – the Russians have created such a cult of him that it’s hard to even describe… What struck me most about the place, though, is that it was furnished with things that, as the guide stated proudly “were not Pushkin’s, but where from the time when he lived and are probably similar to those he may have owned or used”…. This tree issue reminded me of this excursion and the obsession of preserving things that are not really that special. The tree did was not special for 100 years before Anne Frank, why should it become such an expensive object after? It is one thing to preserve the Secret Annex, where Anne Frank and her family hid for years, it is another to get all up in arms about a tree that happened to be nearby and that she happened to look out at…

The Jewish Chronicle article, if it could be called that, reaffirmed my previously stated opinion – it is unhealthy to obsess. A “suspicious” fire destroyed a barrack where Anne spent some time before being sent off to Auschwitz; an executive director of the Anne Frank Trust UK states that “it is sad that this important historical site is now lost.” First of all, the article does not detail any of the facts which render the event ‘suspicious,’ so the article loses credibility and importance in my eyes from the very first sentence. Secondly, “the buildings were sold in 1957 and were used to store farm equipment before the fire,” so they were clearly not that crucially important.

I think preserving traces of history is incredibly important – I enjoy museums and I think they are a great resource, but obsessing over every little object is not conducive to learning – it hinders it. Obsessing over the past prevents us from living actively in the present and preparing for the future, which in my opinion is even worse than what everybody fears: forgetting the past. The cult of the Diary, in my opinion, has gone too far – in remembering how Anne Frank longed for freedom by gazing out at a chestnut tree, we forget how millions of people exactly like us were herded to gas chambers, shot into mass graves, tortured, dehumanized, demoralized, and cruelly executed. By being “sad” when “important historical sites” used for storing farming equipment are lost, we focus on past events, and we can easily turn a blind eye to current events – the Holocaust is going on today just as it did in the ‘40s, just with different qualifiers. There are so many more important things to spend money and attention on than diseased trees or farm equipment storage barracks, but it’s so much easier to focus on the past than to actively fight in the present for a better future… 

This blog is for students in DUTCH/JUDAID 351 who did not attend the excursion to the Detroit Holocaust Memorial Center. As an alternative assignment you need to

1. read the articles/websites below
2. post a thorough discussion comparing the articles and
3. comment on one other blog mate's post.

Your discussion post must summarize, analyze, and reflect. Think about the legacy of Anne Frank and her Diary, the meaning of the Diary, the meaning of the objects tied to Anne Frank, and anti-Semitism. Your comments on a blog mate's post must be thoughtful and address differences and similarities in your views.

Alternatively, you can still visit the Center on your own (a much more valuable a learning experience!) and write a short report describing:

1. How the physical objects such as the cattle car affected you
2. 2 things you learned that you didn't yet know
3. the Anne Frank tree exhibit

The article links are:

http://annefrank.com/the-sapling-project/

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/09/world/europe/09tree.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

http://www.thejc.com/news/world-news/anne-franks-barracks-destroyed-fire