Should we blame him, 80 years on? The results of an investigation, using 21st-Century detection methods, were released yesterday. The authors want to avoid calls for “justice”.
Finally, Anne Frank's betrayer revealed
Should we blame him, 80 years on? The results of an investigation, using 21st-Century detection methods, were released yesterday. The authors want to avoid calls for "justice".
<h2 class=" eplus-wrapper">Dark times</h2>
Eighty years ago, a German Jewish family living in Amsterdam hatched a desperate plan. They packed up their belongings and hid in an annexe at the back of a building.
The family would live in this tiny space, just 42 square metres, for the next two years. During this time, one of them kept a diary, full of insights into the terrible experiences of the Nazi occupationThe Netherlands were occupied by the Nazis from May 1940 to May 1945. Repression of the Jewish population intensified after 1941.. Today, it is one of the most famous Holocaust books ever written: The Diary of Anne Frank.
On 4 August 1944, the Frank family were found. German police stormed their hiding place. They were sent to AuschwitzNazi death camp where over a million people lost their lives during WW2.. Anne's father, Otto, was separated from the rest of the family. They would never see each other again.
Later that year, Anne and Margot were relocated to the Bergen-Belsen camp. Their mother Edith was left behind. She died in Auschwitz. The Frank sisters were sick and malnourished. When typhus spread through the camp in February 1945, it killed them both. Just two months later, British forces liberated the camp.
Anne Frank's diary has become one of the bestselling books in the world. Every year, 1.2 million people visit the Amsterdam museum dedicated to her life. Many have dedicated themselves to the question of how the Nazis found her family.
Now we may finally know the answer. For the last six years, a team led by former FBI investigator Vince Pankoke has used modern forensic techniques to trace the Franks' betrayer. And it is all written up in a new book by Rosemary SullivanA Canadian poet, biographer and anthologist, famous for her biography of Josef Stalin's daughter Svetlana., The Betrayal of Anne Frank.
The team thinks the most likely culprit is a local Jewish notary named Arnold van den Bergh.
Some are arguing for some kind of repayment. Van den Bergh may be dead, but his family should apologise for the terrible harm he did to his neighbours.
But the team says that the purpose of their work is not to find someone to blame. It is to show what terrible things people will do in desperate circumstances.
Although van den Bergh's ethnicity was known to the authorities, he was never sent to the camps. The investigators think this might be because he cut a deal with the Nazis, handing over hidden Jews in exchange for his own family's freedom. Like many others, they suggest, he was doing what he felt he had to do to protect those he loved.
Previous investigations have proposed other culprits: one of Frank's own employees, the sister of one of their helpers, a Dutch Nazi sympathiserSome people outside Germany agreed with the Nazis' aims. They often helped German forces to repress Jews and other minorities., a Resistance double agent working for the Germans, or sheer bad luck. The team's point is that almost anyone might have betrayed the Franks if it could have saved their own lives. People did what they had to just to get by under the Nazi regime.
Otto Frank, the family's sole survivor, dedicated much of his life to finding out who had betrayed them. The team believes that he knew it was Van den Bergh but did not tell anyone. Perhaps he, too, thought there was no way of punishing vulnerable people just trying to survive.
Yes: Van den Bergh sold out another family for his own selfish reasons. There can be no forgiveness for those who participated in the Holocaust in any way.
No: Those of us who have not lived under Nazi occupation cannot possibly know what drove van den Bergh to do what he did. We have to accept that people make moral compromises under that kind of pressure.
Or... The Nazis used Jewish collaborators because they wanted to make the community responsible for its own oppression. We cannot play their game: all blame must be placed squarely on the Nazis.
Nazi occupation - The Netherlands were occupied by the Nazis from May 1940 to May 1945. Repression of the Jewish population intensified after 1941.
Auschwitz - Nazi death camp where over a million people lost their lives during WW2.
Rosemary Sullivan - A Canadian poet, biographer and anthologist, famous for her biography of Josef Stalin's daughter Svetlana.
Nazi sympathiser - Some people outside Germany agreed with the Nazis' aims. They often helped German forces to repress Jews and other minorities.
Finally, Anne Frank’s betrayer revealed

Glossary
Nazi occupation - The Netherlands were occupied by the Nazis from May 1940 to May 1945. Repression of the Jewish population intensified after 1941.
Auschwitz - Nazi death camp where over a million people lost their lives during WW2.
Rosemary Sullivan - A Canadian poet, biographer and anthologist, famous for her biography of Josef Stalin’s daughter Svetlana.
Nazi sympathiser - Some people outside Germany agreed with the Nazis’ aims. They often helped German forces to repress Jews and other minorities.