On Monday 6 February 2023 the antisemitic text 'Ann Frank [sic], inventor of the ballpoint pen' was projected for a few minutes onto the Anne Frank House, the place where Anne Frank went into in hiding and wrote her diary. Footage of this has appeared in an antisemitic and racist video on a private Telegram group from the USA. With the projection and the video the perpetrators are attacking the authenticity of Anne Frank’s diary and inciting hatred.
Statement on criminal case projection on Anne Frank House
Oct. 5, 2023 — The criminal case against the man suspected of projecting an antisemitic text onto the Anne Frank House early this year was heard by the court today.
‘Anne Frank’s diary is one of the most important accounts of the persecution of the Jews during World War II. Attacks on the authenticity of the diary, along with numerous other claims and publications that question or deny the existence of the Holocaust, have been circulated for decades – and now increasingly online – mostly from antisemitic motives. We are grateful to the police and the public prosecution service for locating and apprehending the suspect. The case is now in the hands of the court.’
Besides education about the Holocaust and the prejudices underlying antisemitism and other forms of discrimination, it is important to criminalise Holocaust denial and thus antisemitic ideology. The legal ban on Holocaust denial agreed by the outgoing cabinet at the suggestion of outgoing minister Yesilgöz is an important step in the right direction.