New life for Anne’s tree of hope during dark days of Holocaust

HER LOVE of a chestnut tree provided comfort at a time of despair, that the beauty of nature could shine through the darkest of days.
Anne Frank's stepsister Dr Eva Schloss plants a sapling from the chestnut tree that Anne Frank looked at during her years in hiding in AmsterdaminAnne Frank's stepsister Dr Eva Schloss plants a sapling from the chestnut tree that Anne Frank looked at during her years in hiding in Amsterdamin
Anne Frank's stepsister Dr Eva Schloss plants a sapling from the chestnut tree that Anne Frank looked at during her years in hiding in Amsterdamin

In May 1944, Holocaust victim Anne Frank was so inspired by the sight of the leaves in full bloom, she penned an entry in her now world-famous diary.

Just three months later, the teenager and her family were deported to concentration camps in Eastern Europe.

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And now the people of Bradford have been gifted with a constant reminder of both the horror of the Holocaust, and the hope of Jewish victims like Anne and her family.

Yesterday the UK’s only commemorative tree grown from the sapling of Anne Frank’s chestnut was planted in the city’s Lister Park by her step-sister Eva Schloss.

The chestnut tree, which was situated behind the secret annexe in Amsterdam, was one of Anne Frank’s only links to the outside world.

A sapling was awarded to a group of 20 school children from Bradford, who had been trained as Anne Frank Ambassadors and travelled to Amsterdam in 2009 and it has been carefully nurtured to grow large enough to be planted outdoors since then.

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Staff were so impressed by the knowledge of the young people they were compelled to hand over the gift.

The original White Horse Chestnut tree, which was more than 170 years’ old, was felled in 2010 due to disease.

During the planting ceremony, Dr Schloss, whose mother married Anne’s father Otto after the war, said she hoped the tree would become a symbol of acceptance.

“We have to realise everybody is really the same as we are,” she said.

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