Only the father, Otto Frank, survived. See: Barnouw, David & Stroom, Gerrold van der, Who betrayed Anne Frank? The first police investigation: Was WILLEM VAN MAAREN the betrayer? One day during his youth, Van Wijk heard his mother sobbing in the bathroom. His name was Anton Ahlers. In the years following Nelly Voskuijls death in 2001, Van Wijk attempted to learn more about the relationship between his mother and his aunt from members of the large family. Historians made no further headway. "I think that people that are looking at this feel, 'Ah, maybe we can learn something if this case is solved,'" Pankoke said. As the whole world now knows, 15-year-old Anne Frank died (likely of typhoid fever) a day after her older sister, Margot, at the Bergen-Belsen death camp between February and April 1945. "Everyone, including his own family, condemned him as distinctly anti-Jewish and a thoroughly unpleasant character.". But, the Anne Frank House museum and research center were unable to confirm Van Dijk's involvement after its own investigation. 2023 TIME USA, LLC. Michael J. It is believed that an anonymous tip helped guide the Nazis to the secret annex, yet despite decades of investigations, the identity of the informant has never been proven. After the war, Frank removed content from Annes diary regarding Nellys collaboration. Among those captured was Anne Frank, a 15-year-old schoolgirl who had spent over two years living in the cramped safehouse with her parents and older sister. They had come very close to being discovered! A detailed picture of the interior of the warehouse, reconstruction (1999). Millions of people have read The Diary of Anne Frank since it was first published posthumously in 1947. Bep Voskuijl was only 18 when she started working for the spice and jam company owned by Otto Frank. Frank and her older sister, Margot, died of typhus at the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp less than a year later, in February 1945. 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. As fast as they could, they all fled back to the hiding place. You must not mark someone down in history as the betrayer of Anne Frank if you dont have conclusive evidence for this., the Anne Frank House in 2016 reinvestigated the raid, People in hiding in the occupied Netherlands. The new investigation does not refute the possibility that the people in hiding were betrayed, but illustrates that other scenarios should also be considered.. In 1963, the SS officer. She was 15 at the time of her death. Suddenly, a passer-by used a flashlight to take a look inside. Nelly fell in love with a young Austrian Nazi and had worked for a year on a German air base. All the more so because betrayal was never established beyond a doubt. More than three decades after Elisabeth Bep Voskuijls death, her son co-authored a biography of the least-known among the Dutch resisters who hid Anne Frank and other Jews during the Holocaust. It made sense that two people who were constantly in each others vicinity and shared the role of helper of Jews, grew closer, he wrote. Specifically, the author believes Nelly was involved in the betrayal of the so-called Secret Annex Jews, including the iconic teenage diarist. Now, about 72 years later, the world may have an answer to the mystery: Maybe nobody betrayed them at all. Summer of 1933. . Tellingly, the books title in Dutch was, Silent No More., The biography is my mission, said Van Wijk, who dedicated the book to Dutch resisters against Nazism. Then, in 2016, a team of investigators, led by a veteran FBI agent, decided to bring modern. Jewish Councils were set up in Nazi-controlled cities and pitted members of the Jewish community against one another. When the people in hiding put it back, it was brutally kicked in again. Cookie Policy This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. | READ MORE. My mother had lots of troubles with Nelly during the war and after the war, Van Wijk told The Times of Israel. How were the people in hiding discovered? "They were friends. "There was a lot of information that pointed to Tonny Ahlers as being a potential suspect," Pankoke said. When Frank returned from Auschwitz in 1945, having lost his wife and two daughters, he may have feared his company would be confiscated if his prewar business with Germany became known. } My aunt Willy [Nellys sister] was furious until she died in 2015, just before the publication, he said. In order to protect his own family, van den Bergh may have handed over lists of addresses where fellow Jews were hiding to the Nazis. Van Maaren pointed up the stairs, but the police already seemed to know exactly where to go. And probably wasn't capable of betrayal, because had he betrayed the annex, he knew that he would end up losing his job." The most believable suspect was Arnold van den Bergh, a prominent Jewish businessman in the city who lived a lavish life during the holocaust. A long-held theory proposed that a new employee at her fathers business, Willem van Maaren, tipped off the Nazis. A long-held theory proposed that a new employee at her father's business, Willem van Maaren, tipped off the Nazis. Writer Rosemary Sullivan chronicled the painstaking process in a new book, The Betrayal of Anne Frank: A Cold Case Investigation. After discovering some of the familys long-held secrets, Van Wijk now believes there is an unsettling reason behind his mothers relative anonymity among the helpers. The book, released in English yesterday, points the finger of blame at a man called Anton Ahlers, a business associate of Otto's and a committed Nazi. Johannes Kleiman (on the left) and Victor Kugler in front of Prinsengracht 263, 1954. The second major burglary in the night of 9 to 10 April 1944 was much more serious. ", Barnouw told The Associated Press he and another colleague will review old files and testimony for new revelations. The burglars managed to take two cash boxes containing forty guilders, blank giro and bank cheques, and coupons for 150 kilograms of sugar. Ars may earn compensation on sales from links on this site. Who betrayed the Franks and why? Even during the early days of the war, the Voskuijl family faced trouble with Nelly. The encounter ended with Nelly shouting, Just go to your Jews!. 2002 The Associated Press. But despite suspicions, there was no conclusive evidence van Maaren betrayed the family. Evidence of his involvement was never found. After the war, Otto Frank, the only member of his family who survived the Holocaust, made statements indicating he knew who his betrayer was. The case was reopened in 1963 after Austrian Nazi hunter Simon Wiesenthal located Silberbauer in the Vienna police force. Co-authored by Belgian journalist Jeroen De Bruyn, Van Wijks book is called, Anne Frank: The Untold Story, with the subtitle, The hidden truth about Elli Vossen, the youngest helper of the Secret Annex. (As 15-year old Anne refined her diary with an eye toward eventual publication, Elli Vossen was the pseudonym she gave to Bep.). It probably never will be. After discovering some of the family's long-held secrets, Van Wijk now believes there is an unsettling reason behind his mother's relative "anonymity" among the helpers. Victor Kugler believed he placed small pieces of wood and other items in the warehouse, in such a way that in the morning he could see if anyone had been there. The helpers worked in the office above the warehouse. And then they heard the footsteps leave again. 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. He and his team spent five years poring over every bit of pertinent material, setting up an extensive online database, and developing an AI program to help them sift through it all and find new connections. 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). Per the New York Times Alexandra Jacobs, the team drew on a combination of big data and artificial intelligence analysis, old-fashioned shoe-leather reporting, interviews, and archival research to narrow down the pool of suspects. In April 1944 Anne wrote: "One day this terrible war will be over. Nobody knows for sure who betrayed the Franks, but after doing research, I believe that Tony Ahlers is guilty. "I looked at his files in The Hague because after the war he was convicted of betraying people and he was jailed," Lee said in an interview for a Dutch television documentary. Were they betrayed? Your Privacy Rights Suspicion for being the betrayer In several investigations after the war, Van Maaren was the prime suspect for the betrayal of Anne Frank; however Van Maaren publicly denied he was responsible. All rights reserved. Kugler was a married man, and he never shared the secret of the hidden Jews with his wife, wrote Van Wijk. There was more going on in that building than just the hiding of Jews. Get your history fix in one place: sign up for the weekly TIME History newsletter, Despite decades of research, betrayal as a point of departure has delivered nothing conclusive, Ronald Leopold, Executive Director of the Anne Frank House museum, said in statement. All Rights Reserved. In the years since Anne Franks diary was published, investigators and historians have proposed several other potential informants. 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. Her writing created a trail to judicial documents from other parts of the Netherlands, resulting in the latest theory. Years later, after Anne Frank became famous for her diary, readers wondered what had gone wrong. Ahlers was among the suspects Pankoke and his team investigated and ultimately ruled out. "We are interested, that's for sure," said David Barnouw, a researcher and spokesman of the government-financed historical institute. .component--type-recirculation .item:nth-child(5) { After Lee's book was published, Ahlers' son was quoted as saying he was convinced her theory is true. ", Patricia Bosboom, of the Anne Frank Foundation which maintains the house where Anne hid, said Lee's theory was plausible, "but it's still only a theory. Willem van Maaren began working as the warehouse manager in 1943, one year before the secret annex was raided by police. Investigators began taking a fresh look at the case in 2016, hoping to provide new answers. First published on January 16, 2022 / 8:09 PM. It claims that Ahlers - then a 26-year- old petty thief - had fallen on hard times by 1944 and desperately needed the bounty paid to Dutch civilians who exposed Jews in their midst. Ad Choices, Katie Falkenberg/Los Angeles Times/Getty Images. The people in hiding slept through the first one, in July 1943. Her work has appeared in a number of publications, including NYmag.com, Flavorwire and Tina Brown Media's Women in the World. Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting. 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.". All Rights Reserved. After tracking down Hulsman for the book, Van Wijk learned of a heated conversation between Nelly and other members of the Voskuijl family during the hiding period. These are two of the most frequently asked questions when it comes to Anne Frank. Willem Gerardus van Maaren (August 10, 1895- November 28, 1971) was the person most often suggested as the betrayer of Anne Frank. "And maybe to the Holocaust survivors that are still out there, they understand that somebody still cares that these mysteries are solved. [Otto Frank] might have done this out of loyalty for my mother, wrote Van Wijk. The German-born Frank, who moved to Holland in 1933, ran a spice-trading company that sold goods to the Wehrmacht, the German army. A family's darkest secret sheds light on an enduring mystery, Were really pleased that youve read, Please use the following structure: example@domain.com, Send me The Times of Israel Daily Edition. On a warm August morning in 1944, SS officers stormed into an Amsterdam warehouse and arrested Anne Frank, her parents, her sister and four other Jews who had been hiding in a secret annex at the back of the building. For decades, historians have debated who betrayed Anne Frank and her family. War diary of life in hiding became world bestseller The Diary of Anne Frank, first published in English in 1952 as The Diary of a Young Girl, is one of the most widely read books in the world. A 2015 biography of Bep Voskuijl (co-authored by her son Joop) suggested that one of Bep's sisters, Nelly, may have snitched on the Franks. | READ MORE. Wilhelm van Maaren One of the people who has. But as the journalism we do is costly, we invite readers for whom The Times of Israel has become important to help support our work by joining The Times of Israel Community. It has been widely believed that Willem van Maaren, a warehouse employee who worked for Otto Frank, outed the Frank family. Another book posited that the suspect might be a Jewish woman. Ahlers said he believed his father received money from Frank, because the flow of funds stopped when Frank died in 1980. Warehouse worker Lammert Hartog did undeclared work, and director Victor Kugler kept part of the company income out of the books. Ed Sheeran plays guitar in court in bid to show he didn't steal Marvin Gaye song But Anne was not yet famous and staff were overworked. Since 2017, Van Wijk has been interviewed several times by members of an international forensics team looking into the cold case of the betrayal, he told The Times of Israel. The authors suspicions were deepened during interviews he conducted for the biography. 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. Last week, the Anne Frank House museum in Amsterdam released a study that suggests that Anne Frank and the seven others hiding with her were discovered by chance. It is believed, however, that documents pertaining to Anne Frank and other residents of the annex were destroyed in a 1940s bombing. Years later, after Anne Frank became famous for her diary, readers wondered what had gone wrong. Although Joop van Wijks book follows the course of his mothers life, the suspense swirls around his late aunt Nelly, Voskuijls sister. Titled Anne Frank: A Cold Case Diary, the investigative project was initiated by filmmaker Thijs Bayens and supported through crowd funding. Incorrect password. He vehemently denied any involvement and said that Victor Kugler had known about the pieces of wood and other things. When the arrest of Anne Frank and the people who hid with her took place, Van Maaren worked as the manager of the warehouse of Opekta and Gies & Co, in whose buildings the Secret Annex was situated. The people in hiding did not sleep a wink for the rest of the night. The Amsterdam home where she and her family hid is today a museum known as the Anne Frank House. Advertising Notice The first theory, forwarded by British author and Anne Frank expert Carol Anne Lee, in her book The Hidden Life of Otto Frank, seems to have aroused the most interest. God truly protected us ,Anne wrote in her diary, much relieved. Did Willem van Maaren betray the Franks? In her diary, Anne reported various attempted burglaries and actual burglaries. Registering also lets you comment on articles and helps us improve your experience. He found Voskuijl in a desperate state with a mouthful of sleeping pills. She made him keep the episode their secret, he wrote. 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 house where she and her family hid in a sealed-off room at Prinsengracht 263 in central Amsterdam was turned into a museum in 1960 and receives almost a million visits a year, mainly from the US. 2022 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. Fox on Parkinson's and how he finds "optimism is sustainable", Ed Sheeran plays guitar in court in bid to show he didn't steal Marvin Gaye song, Preview: Michael J. "On face value, you would think, okay, we found the guy," Pankoke said. The team looked at dozens of potential suspects before arriving at the person they believe likely gave up the Franks' location: Arnold van den Bergh. Who betrayed Anne Frank? The groups hideout was located inside a warehouse he had once owned, and they were aided by several of his employees as well as other Dutch sympathizers. We strive for accuracy and fairness. Investigators Are Turning to Big Data to Find Who Betrayed Anne Frank. Additionally, believes Van Wijk, Otto Frank either suspected or knew of Nelly Voskuijls role in the betrayal. According to the author, he has mostly been met by cold shoulders. Apparently, the police were called next, because a little while later, they came inside to take a look around. In June 1947 1,500 copies of the Dutch edition of the diary were produced. Among other theories the Anne Frank House investigated was a 2016reportthat suggests no one was, in fact, responsible for leaking to the Nazis. During the next six months a team of experts from the Netherlands' Institute for War Documentation (NIWD) will pore over government records drawn up at the end of the war which detail the extent of Dutch collaboration with the Nazis. Fox on Parkinson's: "Every day it gets tougher" 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. If so, please join The Times of Israel Community. This went well until Johan fell ill in 1943 and was replaced by Willem van Maaren. ", Photo of Ans van Dijk courtesy of Ben van Meerendonk/IISH. He had previously asked questions about the Annex and tried in many ways to see if there was anyone who had entered the building after closing hours. Downstairs they think it is too risky. Pankoke and his colleagues, including an investigative psychologist, a war crimes investigator, historians, criminologists and archivists, approached the historical mystery like a criminal cold case. Two Dutch investigations, in 1947-48 and 1963-64, targeted the warehouse manager, Willem van Maaren, but were inconclusive. In 1963, the SS officer who conducted the annex raid told investigators a young woman made the betrayal call. I take both of these theories seriously enough to put them on paper but that is different from actually saying what happened. One of the people who has been most often scrutinized as the potential betrayer is Wilhelm van Maaren, a worker in the warehouse building where the Franks hid. 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. HISTORY reviews and updates its content regularly to ensure it is complete and accurate. 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.

Nicole Kidman Naples Fl, Jagdeep Advani Business, Articles W