Magazines, Digital "The NIWD has never tried to find out who betrayed the Franks but they have contacts which I don't have and know how archives in the Netherlands work. Later, when father Johan Voskuijl and sister Bep were involved in hiding Jews on the Prinsengracht, Nelly was working for the Nazis across town. His name was Anton Ahlers. But if you see something that doesn't look right, click here to contact us! However, Pankoke told 60 Minutes he trusts the evidence shows those hiding in the annex were betrayed and that the Nazi discovery and arrest wasn't merely a coincidence. They could, for example, not flush the toilet too often, because the water discharge from the Secret Annex ran along the storeroom. Shortly after World War II ended, Otto Frank suggested that the culprit was Willem van Maaren, a warehouse employee who was not in on the secret. When did the Franks decided to move to the Netherlands due to increasing tensions in Germany? Lee "has no proof, but I can imagine this was the case. Beginning in 2016, Pankoke led a team of expert investigators equipped with modern crime-solving techniques to try to crack the case. Apparently, the police were called next, because a little while later, they came inside to take a look around. One of the reasons his aunt has been overlooked by past investigators, believes Van Wijk, involves his familys darkest secret. Ed Sheeran plays guitar in court in bid to show he didn't steal Marvin Gaye song "I think he actually made the call. I think he is the one who gave away the Franks' whereabouts to the caller although I don't think he physically made the call himself.". The burglars had ripped a panel out of the warehouses street door in order to get in. That was quite a feat. The burglars managed to take two cash boxes containing forty guilders, blank giro and bank cheques, and coupons for 150 kilograms of sugar. Within several years the book had been translated into German, French and English, and was made into a film in 1959. Historians have proposed competing hypotheses without definitive proof . There was another important reason Pankoke crossed Van Dijk off the list of suspects. "Everyone, including his own family, condemned him as distinctly anti-Jewish and a thoroughly unpleasant character.". Although Miep Gies is the best-remembered of the Dutch helpers, Voskuijl was the closest to Anne in age and temperament. Get the latest stories in your inbox every weekday. The Subdistrict Court dismissed the . Multiple people have been suspected of informing the Nazis of the Franks' hiding place, while one theory suggests it may have simply been bad luck. You couldn't just do that.". God truly protected us ,Anne wrote in her diary, much relieved. Nevertheless, researchers do not rule out the potential that Frank and the others were the victims of a betrayal. In 1963, the SS officer. display: block; A detailed picture of the interior of the warehouse, reconstruction (1999). The trove of information is so large that a human in their lifetime might not be able to review it, Pankoke tells Stephanie van den Berg andAnthony Deutsch of Reuters. Stockroom manager Willem van Maaren was another suspect, and since several possible culprits knew each other, there is also the possibility that more than one person betrayed the Frank family. Pankoke and his team are compiling a huge database of other documents that may contain information relevant to the Frank case: lists of Nazi informants, lists of Jews who were turned over to the authorities, names of Gestapo agents who lived in Amsterdam, police records and so on. For instance, Melissa Muller's 1998 biography of Anne Frank concluded that a woman named Lena Hartog, wife of the company's assistant warehouse manager, betrayed the family. - Jan 22, 2022 10:54 pm UTC. In this book, he's much more flesh and blood. Who ratted on Anne Frank? - Profound-Information The case against Ahlers fell apart, Pankoke told Wertheim, when it came to knowledge. .component--type-recirculation .item:nth-child(5) { All rights reserved. Annes relationship with her sister Margot was standoffish, and Voskuijl helped fill some of the gap between them. If Frank had known that Van Dijk had also betrayed his family, Pankoke reasoned, he would have had no incentive to keep the information quiet. 60 Minutes Segment on Anne Frank Identifies Likely Suspect - Mediaite Read our affiliate link policy. Van Maaren was later the subject of multiple investigations related to the betrayalincluding one by famed Nazi hunter Simon Wiesenthalbut he always maintained his innocence, and none of the cases ever produced any evidence against him. Who betrayed the Franks and why? - Sage-Advices The second thing was there was nothing that actually tied her to information that would have led her to know that people were in the annex.". Bep Voskuijl was only 18 when she started working for the spice and jam company owned by Otto Frank. After spending two years eluding Nazi capture while in hiding in Amsterdam, the Frank family was discovered on. Who Betrayed Anne Frank? A New Study Suggests Nobody Did - Yahoo News Out of all the warehouse staff, only Johan Voskuijl was aware of the presence of the people in hiding. It was an anonymous phone call in the hot summer of 1944 which led the Gestapo and Dutch security police to the concealed annexe in a canalside house where Anne Frank and her family had hidden for almost two years. Among other activities, the Frank sisters took correspondence courses in Voskuijls name, and the administrative assistant put aside filing for the sisters to do at night. The note came to authorities attention during a 1963 investigation into the betrayal but received little notice, with police instead focusing their efforts on suspects such as van Maaren. | READ MORE. According to Pankoke, Van Dijk had betrayed the family of Otto Frank's second wife. Who betrayed the Anne Frank family? Here's what we know now Immediately after the war, Willem van Maaren was the only suspect in the investigation into the raid of the Secret Annex by the Sicherheitsdienst. In Anne's diary it becomes clear that the Annex occupants also did not trust him. It has been proven beyond doubt, says Ms Lee, that Ahlers knew where the Franks were hiding and even his own family believe that he is the traitor. When they returned to the Annex, they found the pages of Anne's diary strewn across the floor, and the duo decided to preserve it for posterity. [My mother] often lived in the past after the war and mulled over the split she found herself in: the loss of her Jewish loved ones from the Annex on the one hand, and her loyalty to her sister [Nelly] who had proven her services to the occupier on the other hand, wrote Van Wijk. She added that the people who were helping to hide the Frank family had been looking into the question of how to get this fellow out of the place from every possible angle. Fox on Parkinson's and how he finds "optimism is sustainable" The authors suspicions were deepened during interviews he conducted for the biography. There was more going on in that building than just the hiding of Jews. Join the Ars Orbital Transmission mailing list to get weekly updates delivered to your inbox. Two other plausible suspects emerged over the years: Lena van Bladeren-Hartog (died 1963) and Tonny Ahlers (1917 - 2000). Her motive for betrayal, according to Mller, was that she did not want to lose her husband too and he would have been deported for aiding the Franks if they were discovered, which she believed was only a matter of time. It has been translated into around 67 languages and has sold over 31 million copies. The Anne Frank House undertook its own investigation and arrived at a surprising new theory in 2017, thanks to the efforts of a historian named Gertjan Brock. Thats why we started the Times of Israel eleven years ago - to provide discerning readers like you with must-read coverage of Israel and the Jewish world. After the war, Frank removed content from Annes diary regarding Nellys collaboration. In other words: If a call was actually made that morning, and the response was immediate, then one may conclude that the informant was known and reliable, according to Lages. Certainly, Maarten Kuiper received money for the betrayals he made.". But the most innovative aspect of the investigation is its use of big data analysisa technology that has only emerged within the past decadeto comb through reams of documents relevant to the case. The researchers also investigated the theory, first raised by scholars at the Anne Frank House in 2016, that the SS discovered the hiding place by chance while searching the warehouse for evidence of illegal work and ration coupon fraud. That, Ms Lee suggests, is more likely to have been a man called Maarten Kuiper, who made a living from the betrayal of Jews and who moved into Ahlers' flat with him the day before the raid. This theory holds that Nellywho returned to Amsterdam in 1943 when her romance souredmay have been the anonymous female caller who (allegedly) tipped off the SS about the Secret Annex, per the testimony of SS officer Karl Josef Silberbauer, who made the arrests. 2023 Smithsonian Magazine Anne Frank HouseWestermarkt 201016 DK Amsterdam, Ronald Leopold, Executive Director of the Anne Frank House. They had to act as if everything was normal. The proof is not final. We had all stopped breathing audibly by then, 8 hearts were pounding, footsteps on our stairs, then a rattling on the bookcase door.' "There's no smoking gun but we are going to make a comparison of the two theories and see what we can rule out and in. He was not betraying Otto Frank., Ronald Leopold, director of the Anne Frank House, points out that many missing pieces of the puzzle remain, telling the AP, I dont think we can say that [the] mystery has been solved now.. Specifically, Anne referred to the troubles brought upon the Voskuijl family by Nelly, and that the young woman was often away from home.. He places books and bits of paper on the very edges of things in the warehouse so that if anyone walks by they fall off, Anne wrote in her diary in April of 1944. In both cases, the findings were inconclusive. Despite two investigations into his . Instead, he was drawn into solving a famous cold case: the question of who betrayed Anne Frank and her family to the Nazis, leading to the Franks' arrest and deportation to a concentration camp. In the years since Anne Franks diary was published, investigators and historians have proposed several other potential informants. This is highly significant and even if they don't find who the traitor was, the scope to find out exactly what did happen is enormous.". ", By Arthur Max Who betrayed the Franks and why? "Van den Bergh wasn't deported," said Pieter van Twisk, a veteran Dutch journalist who co-founded the investigative project and led the research team. As fast as they could, they all fled back to the hiding place. Then, in 2016, a team of investigators, led by a veteran FBI agent, decided to bring modern. Over the years, some 30 different suspects have been suggested as the possible culprit, from the wife of a warehouse employee, to the sister of Otto Franks typist, to Anton Ahlers, a business associate of Otto Frank who was active in the Dutch Nazi party. And who among us, if our families were on the line and heading to extermination camps, wouldnt do what we could? In his 2018 book The Backyard of the Secret Annex author Gerard Kremer claimed that Ans van Dijk betrayed those hiding in the annex. Did Willem van Maaren betray Anne Frank? First published in English in 1952 as "The Diary of a Young Girl" and later as a stage play and film, her story made her a symbol both of the Holocaust and of Dutch bravery. Now, according to Daniel Boffey of the Guardian, a retired FBI agent has launched an investigation into the enduring historical mystery, hoping to find out once and for all who betrayed the young diarist. Did a Jewish Collaborator Betray Anne Frank to the Nazis? - History Cookie Settings, Five Places Where You Can Still Find Gold in the United States, Scientists Taught Pet Parrots to Video Call Each Otherand the Birds Loved It, Balto's DNA Provides a New Look at the Intrepid Sled Dog, The Science of California's 'Super Bloom,' Visible From Space, What We're Still Learning About Rosalind Franklins Unheralded Brilliance. Ahlers had discovered, says Lee, that Otto's herb and food preservative business had supplied the Wehrmacht throughout the war and that, she suggests, would have been enough to see Otto branded a collaborator. He referred them to the first floor, where the office staff was. "But whenever you actually dig into all the evidence, you find out that he wasn't antisemitic. Privacy Statement But despite suspicions, there was no conclusive evidence van Maaren betrayed the family. More than 100,000 Dutch Jews - 70 percent of the community - were deported to concentration camps in Germany. Who Betrayed Anne Frank? A New Study Suggests Nobody Did According to Pankoke, for Van den Bergh to have that level of protection, he must have had some leverage with the Nazis. ", Ms Lee is also cautious but believes the secret of who shopped Anne Frank is there to be unearthed. Specifically, the author believes Nelly was involved in the betrayal of the so-called Secret Annex Jews, including the iconic teenage diarist. Last year, the Anne Frank House museum in Amsterdam floated a new theory: Nazi officers who were investigating illegal work and ration fraud at the warehouse accidentally stumbled upon the Jews hiding in the annex. Her work has appeared in a number of publications, including NYmag.com, Flavorwire and Tina Brown Media's Women in the World. "They were friends. Lee says among the four men who raided the Prinsengracht warehouse on Aug. 4, 1944, was Maarten Kuiper, a Dutch policeman who was a friend of Ahlers. Brigit Katz is a freelance writer based in Toronto. Anne chronicled their lives in the Annex in her diary for the next two years, making her final entry on August 1, 1944. 2022 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. We have investigated over 30 suspects in 20 different scenarios, leaving one scenario we like to refer to as the most likely scenario, filmmaker and team member Thijs Bayens tells Mike Corder of the Associated Press (AP). We strive for accuracy and fairness. In 1963, the National Police Internal Investigation Department investigated the raid. Cookie Settings, NIOD Institute for War, Holocaust and Genocide Studies, Five Places Where You Can Still Find Gold in the United States, Scientists Taught Pet Parrots to Video Call Each Otherand the Birds Loved It, Balto's DNA Provides a New Look at the Intrepid Sled Dog, The Science of California's 'Super Bloom,' Visible From Space, What We're Still Learning About Rosalind Franklins Unheralded Brilliance. Stockroom manager Willem van Maaren was another suspect, and since several possible culprits knew each other, there is also the possibility that more than one person betrayed the Frank. But Dutch government historians disclosed yesterday that two new theories about who betrayed 15-year-old Jewish schoolgirl Anne Frank to the Nazis in occupied Amsterdam are so compelling that they are reopening their investigations. Meilan Solly is Smithsonian magazine's associate digital editor, history. However, the investigation did not prove his guilt. It is believed, however, that documents pertaining to Anne Frank and other residents of the annex were destroyed in a 1940s bombing. All rights reserved. Hours earlier, Karl Josef Silberbauer, the Austrian commander of the squad, received a phone call from the head of the Amsterdam security police who said eight Jews were hiding in the warehouse. ), Anne Frank HouseWestermarkt 201016 DK Amsterdam. So the team has enlisted the Amsterdam-based data company Xomnia to develop algorithms that will analyze the documents, andperhapsreveal connections that have never been noticed before. Gies and Voskuijl were questioned but not detained. The business continued to operate while the Franks were in hiding, although it apparently was no longer trading with the Germans. "There's no doubt he did it," Anton Ahlers Jr. told the Volkskrant newspaper. It probably never will be. The evidence that led Pankoke's investigators to their conclusion pointed to the alleged betrayer as much as it ruled out other suspects including some who had previously been the subject of speculation. Ahlers own son endorsed the theory that his father was the culprit, but a subsequent investigation by Dutch authorities found no hard evidence of his involvement. For more than 20 years, employee Van Maaren was the main suspect. The people in hiding slept through the first one, in July 1943. We dont have 100 percent certainty. Thats obvious, said Bertus Hulsman, who was the wartime boyfriend of Voskuijl and sometimes mentioned in the diary.