Costco promotes controversial Anne Frank book, as Dutch publisher halts distribution
Outlet named as its February “Buyer’s Pick” 'The Betrayal of Anne Frank', which the publisher has since removed and apologised for
Costco named as its February “Buyer’s Pick” a book about Anne Frank that has been taken off the market in the Netherlands, in the latest sign that criticism of the book is unlikely to stem its influence.
“The Betrayal of Anne Frank” made waves upon its release last month because of its explosive conclusion that a Jew had betrayed Frank’s family to the Nazis.
The book, by Rosemary Sullivan, chronicles the work of an investigative team led by a retired FBI agent that identified “with 85% certainty” a notary named Arnold van den Bergh as the person who directed German forces to the Amsterdam hiding place of the teenage diarist, her parents and sister.
But in the weeks after the release, Dutch historians, European Jewish leaders and other authors protested the book, saying that it unfairly impugned a long-dead Dutch Jew without adequate evidence. Some presented evidence suggesting that, rather than being the likely culprit in a historical mystery, van den Bergh was being smeared.
Amid this pressure, the book’s publisher, Ambo Anthos, suspended sales of the Dutch-language translation of the book last week.
“There were obvious problems with the research, and probably the last thing that Ambo Anthos wanted was an authors’ walkout,” Johannes Houwink ten Cate, professor emeritus of Holocaust and genocide studies at the University of Amsterdam, told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
But the book remains widely available outside of the Netherlands. Its selection as a Costco pick means that millions of Americans will see a direct appeal to buy and read it, and many likely will. The books was featured on an episode of “60 Minutes” on Jan. 16.
“I can still remember the effect Anne Frank’s The Diary of a Young Girl had on me,” a Costco book buyer named Alex Kanenwisher wrote in the company’s February newsletter. “So I am very excited to share this month’s book buyer’s pick, The Betrayal of Anne Frank by Rosemary Sullivan.” The newsletter called the book a “modern whodunit.”
According to the book’s critics, the whodunit remains far from solved. They point to details from van den Bergh’s life, including that he himself had gone into hiding before the Frank family was betrayed and that investigators had cleared him of Nazi collaboration after the war, to argue that it’s impossible to conclude that he had given up the family’s location.
Pieter van Twisk, the lead researcher of the cold-case team, told JTA that those facts didn’t refute the book’s conclusion.
“People in hiding often were pressured or extorted into cooperation,” van Twisk wrote in an email approved by Vince Pankoke, the retired FBI agent who led the team. ”As long as you could provide things of value (gold, jewellery, money, stocks, paintings and yes addresses etc.) they might have left you alone.”
Although Pankoke and his team have publicly stood by their conclusions, they said in a statement on their website that it was “very unwise” to assert that the conclusion was “85%” accurate. “This does not represent the degree of certainty” of the study’s results, they wrote in Dutch.
The European Jewish Congress, which represents dozens of Jewish communities in Europe, has formally called for the book to be rescinded. Naming a Jewish culprit in a mystery that has transfixed people of all backgrounds could be “potentially incendiary” at a time of rising antisemitism, the group wrote in a letter to the book’s publisher.
There is no indication that the challenges against the book will change its distribution in the United States, where the book is featured prominently in many bookstores. HarperCollins’ main offices and several regional publishers have not replied to JTA’s requests for comment on the criticism of the book.
Costco’s promotion of the book is “continuing the trend of Americans wanting less to directly talk about the Holocaust and more to talk near it,” tweeted Maris Kreizman, a Jewish author who hosts a podcast about books.
Critics fear that the more the book is read, the more likely it is that van den Bergh will forever be suspected of betraying his fellow Jews.
“The debate that’s happening in the Netherlands is not happening at the same level in Canada and in the United States,” ten Cate said. “That means that I’m not sure that the genie released by the cold case study is ever going back into the bottle.”
The controversy is rippling over into Germany. There, the publisher of the German-language translation, Jürgen Welte, announced it was performing “an internal review” ahead of the intended release date of March 22.
“After two professional edits of the manuscript, we are currently undergoing an internal review,” Jürgen Welte said in a statement. “The comparatively late publication date of the German-language edition shows that we are handling this sensitive topic extremely responsibly.”
Thank you for helping to make Jewish News the leading source of news and opinion for the UK Jewish community. Today we're asking for your invaluable help to continue putting our community first in everything we do.
For as little as £5 a month you can help sustain the vital work we do in celebrating and standing up for Jewish life in Britain.
Jewish News holds our community together and keeps us connected. Like a synagogue, it’s where people turn to feel part of something bigger. It also proudly shows the rest of Britain the vibrancy and rich culture of modern Jewish life.
You can make a quick and easy one-off or monthly contribution of £5, £10, £20 or any other sum you’re comfortable with.
100% of your donation will help us continue celebrating our community, in all its dynamic diversity...
Engaging
Being a community platform means so much more than producing a newspaper and website. One of our proudest roles is media partnering with our invaluable charities to amplify the outstanding work they do to help us all.
Celebrating
There’s no shortage of oys in the world but Jewish News takes every opportunity to celebrate the joys too, through projects like Night of Heroes, 40 Under 40 and other compelling countdowns that make the community kvell with pride.
Pioneering
In the first collaboration between media outlets from different faiths, Jewish News worked with British Muslim TV and Church Times to produce a list of young activists leading the way on interfaith understanding.
Campaigning
Royal Mail issued a stamp honouring Holocaust hero Sir Nicholas Winton after a Jewish News campaign attracted more than 100,000 backers. Jewish Newsalso produces special editions of the paper highlighting pressing issues including mental health and Holocaust remembrance.
Easy access
In an age when news is readily accessible, Jewish News provides high-quality content free online and offline, removing any financial barriers to connecting people.
Voice of our community to wider society
The Jewish News team regularly appears on TV, radio and on the pages of the national press to comment on stories about the Jewish community. Easy access to the paper on the streets of London also means Jewish News provides an invaluable window into the community for the country at large.
We hope you agree all this is worth preserving.
