A sad and painful discovery in the story of Anne Frank

I saw this last night too. I think it was on BBC news. Very sad.

Did he not betray them to save his own family? I may have got this wrong.

I believe it was very common in France. The dreadful thing is, other people were blamed at the time.

Anniebach

Did he not betray them to save his own family? I may have got this wrong.

Yes, Annie that is what they believe. I think he was working with the Nazis after the invasion of Holland to enforce their policies in the city. He had a daughter the same age as Anne.

From what I have read, people did betray other Jewish people, in order to save their own lives. Who can say what we would do if faced with the same situation.

So, so sad that it was just days away from freedom.

That's shockin Josieann. Do you think the person benefitted financially or otherwise for the exchange of information or that they were tortured for it?

I cannot think of a reason why a Jew would betray another Jew, but the times of covid have shown us that people have turned against people, divided over things like views about injections and masks, sadly.

I can’t say what I would do, yes I can sit in my home in 2022 and condemn , but would I betray another family to save mine or remain silent and let my family die .

OnwardandUpward

That's shockin Josieann. Do you think the person benefitted financially or otherwise for the exchange of information or that they were tortured for it?

I cannot think of a reason why a Jew would betray another Jew, but the times of covid have shown us that people have turned against people, divided over things like views about injections and masks, sadly.

I don't know OnwardandUpward but I assume he was saving himself and his family from the gas chamber. There is a book out about the investigation which I might read. What I want to know is why he revealed the hiding place at the very last minute when he would have known about it for years?

Who knows how we would behave in such terrible circumstances.

The article I read said the named person 'may' have been the one to betray the Frank family. As there appears to be no firm evidence it doesn't seem right to point the finger all these years later - must be awful for any living relatives.

I expect it weighed on his conscience for the rest of his life.

Have you ever watched or read 'The Book Thief' - it was very hard too for German families who wanted to do the right thing.

For me, this discovery brings me right into the present - and how people will wring their hands and hearts about Anne Frank - but would be quite happy to tell the police about current immigrants, or let them drown in the Channel. (sorry if this shocks you).

I saw this on BBC news yesterday. Very sad, and I agree, you don’t know what you would do in such such desperate circumstances.

When I was 14 I went to Anne Frank's house in Amsterdam, such a humbling experience that I will never forget.

Germanshepherdsmum

I expect it weighed on his conscience for the rest of his life.

If he even survived. Many Jewish informers went the same way as all other Jewish people once they’d outlived their usefulness. It was a terrible situation, one that we cannot even imagine. What would anyone do to save their child? How can we know?

Torture is torture, whether mental or physical. Could you look at your family, children and grandchildren, knowing they would be killed if you did not betray another family?

I often wonder how I would respond to physical torture, would I quickly give any information I had -or fabricate it - . h although nowadays physical torture seems to be inflicted on people just because they were in the wrong place at the wrong time, or hold the wrong beliefs, regardless whether there is any information to be got out of them.

Riverwalk

Who knows how we would behave in such terrible circumstances.

The article I read said the named person 'may' have been the one to betray the Frank family. As there appears to be no firm evidence it doesn't seem right to point the finger all these years later - must be awful for any living relatives.

I thought so too.

Strange that this evidence has been unearthed after all these years pointing to a fellow Jew.

If threatened with the capture, torture and death of our own children or grandchildren what would any of us do?

I’m probably completely wrong, but the thought briefly crossed my mind, is this new accusation anti Semitic? I pushed the thought away, because I know that a small number of Jewish people did betray members of their own community, basically in order to save themselves. The thought lingers though, is this anti Semitic?

If you are faced with a situation where a family is going to die, and your decision is whether it should be yours or another one, what would you do/

As for people turning on one another, look what happened in the first lockdown when people were denouncing one another for buying 'non-essential' items and hugging their grandchildren. It really doesn't take much to bring out the worst in a lot of people.

maddyone

I’m probably completely wrong, but the thought briefly crossed my mind, is this new accusation anti Semitic? I pushed the thought away, because I know that a small number of Jewish people did betray members of their own community, basically in order to save themselves. The thought lingers though, is this anti Semitic?

Why would it be anti-semitic?

Like many minority communities, Jewish people of the time would mainly have mixed and done business with each other, so it's likely that your own people know your plans, contacts, movements etc., so be in a position to protect or betray.

It really doesn't take much to bring out the worst in a lot of people.

Doodledog as demonstrated in Nazi Germany and other countries too.
Those who did not agree often kept quiet out of fear.

The news story I read said that the man had been allowed to stay living normally with his family in exchange for information fed to the Nazis. He gave away the Franks’s secret because it was the last card he had to play. I don’t know whether he survived the war - does anyone know?

Apparently, Anne Frank’s father, Otto, knew the identity of who had betrayed them but he kept it to himself.

It’s a terrible story, it must have been an impossible dilemma.

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We dont know how lucky we are to be living in a democracy. Not perfect I'm sure, but what is?