Publisher apologizes for book on Anne Frank betrayal

Publisher Ambo Anthos apologized for publishing a book on the betrayal of Anne Frank and her family after criticism of the research in the book. In the book, researchers concluded that Jewish notary Arnold van den Bergh likely passed on the Franks' hiding place to the Germans. But other experts say that the conclusions are based too much on assumptions, NOS reports.

Ambo Anthos, which published the book by Canadian writer Rosemary Sulivan in the Netherlands, wrote that it should have adopted a more critical stance. It postponed additional print runs of the book and is waiting for "answers from the research team to the questions that have arisen." The apology was addressed to "anyone who feels offended by the book."

According to NOS, experts admired the large amount of information the book's research team acquired using modern methods. But felt that the conclusion that Van den Bergh betrayed the Frank family was based on assumptions. An essential point that Van den Bergh was the culprit was that he had access to lists of where Jewish people were hiding in the Netherlands as a prominent member of the Jewish council. But according to other experts, there was no evidence for this.

University lecturer Bart van der Boom, working on a book about the Jewish Council, told NOS the book's conclusions were "defamatory nonsense." The Anne Frank Fund was also critical of the research. "This does not contribute to truth-finding. It only creates confusion. The investigation is also full of errors," said chairman John D. Goldsmith.  

The researchers behind the book have not yet responded to the criticism. However, they did note in the book that they found no definitive evidence. "Because there is no DNA evidence or video images in such an old case, you will always have to rely on circumstantial evidence. Yet our theory has a probability of at least 85 percent. We don't have a smoking gun, but we have a hot weapon with empty casings next to it," researcher Vince Pankoke, a retired FBI agent, said to NOS when the book was published earlier this month.