Man faces six months for projecting anti-Semitic conspiracy theory on Anne Frank House
The Public Prosecution Service (OM) demanded six months in prison against Robert W. for projecting a Holocaust-denying conspiracy theory onto the Anne Frank House in February. The man traveled 1,200 kilometers from Poland to Amsterdam for his “very deliberately planned action intended to hurt others,” the prosecutor said, wondering “what possessed” him. The OM also asked for a restraining order banning the man from Amsterdam for five years.
The OM charged the man with coercion, group defamation of Jews, and the publication of discriminatory texts. The OM believes it has provided enough evidence to convincingly prove these acts. “Anne Frank House was burdened by having the text on the façade, which expresses contempt for Anne Frank, the world-famous Anne Frank House, and for the diary,” the OM said. “People who happened to pass by the building that evening were forced to read that text.”
The words “Anne Frank is the inventor of the ballpoint pen,” in Dutch, were projected on the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam at around 9:00 p.m. on February 6. The words refer to a conspiracy theory that denies the Holocaust. According to the Anne Frank Foundation, they refer to two loose sheets of paper found in the diary written in ballpoint pen, which had not become popular until after the Second World War. Researchers concluded that a researcher must have left the loose sheets of paper in the diary while studying the text as they are clearly newer than the diary.
Suspect Robert W., a 42-year-old Polish Canadian man, was arrested in Poland in April and extradited to the Netherlands in August. In court, he confirmed that he had been in Amsterdam from February 5th to 7th but denied any involvement in the anti-Semitic projection. He said he was visiting the city with his fiance and child and were “doing mainly touristy things. Walking,” according to Telegraaf reporter Saskia Bellemans posting live from the courtroom. He recorded many videos and photos, mainly of his child, also using a drone.
Witnesses saw a man project the texts on the Anne Frank House on February 6, get into a van, and drive away toward the Bloemgracht. Surveillance cameras on the Bloemgracht recorded the van and its license plate, which was registered in W.’s name. A drone was seen flying around the Prinsengracht on February 6. The police managed to trace the drone's ID number and identified it as one of two drones confiscated in W.’s home in Poland after his arrest. Footage from the drone shows W. flying it and that it flew over the Prinsengracht several times, exactly where the Anne Frank House is located.
W. said that he was trying to find parking near the hotel where he stayed when the projections happened. He said he had no idea whether he was near the Anne Frank House or the Bloemgracht. W. also said he didn’t recognize himself in the drone footage showing the man flying it. He said he doesn’t own the clothing the man in the footage was wearing.
Footage from the drone was later shared on a Telegram channel, AB Resurrected, with a song with discriminatory and anti-Semitic lyrics. W. denied knowing the song or the Telegram channel. But, according to the OM, he visited the Telegram channel on his home computer several times in February and March. “All I can say about that is that my fiance also uses the computer,” W. said in court.
The Polish authorities are also investigating W. for fascism and incitement to hatred. According to W., the case stems from him not respecting a monument. The man is also wanted in the United States, the prosecutor said. W.’s lawyer pointed out that the cases in Poland and the U.S. were still ongoing. The man hasn’t been convicted of anything and has been in custody for 90 days, the lawyer said.
