“Anti-Semitic slogan projected on Anne Frank House: Amsterdam mayor speaks out”

The text, in which Anne Frank is related to a ballpoint pen, is part of a conspiracy theory that describes that she would not have written her diary herself. The Amsterdam police department then started an investigation.

On Thursday evening, the silent tour went through the old Jewish quarter, past the National Holocaust Names Monument, Rembrandtplein and ended on Dam Square where the National Remembrance Day is being held.

‘New low’

“The anti-Semitic slogan projected on the Anne Frank House was a new low point in malice. We must never get used to this,” said Halsema. She also referred to the war violence in Ukraine.

“Tomorrow we celebrate 78 years of freedom, but just over 3,000 kilometers from here, the courageous Ukrainians are fighting for their freedom. A fight with which we are in solidarity,” said the mayor. “Also because Putin’s world view is a bleak wind blowing over Europe, on which anti-Semitic conspiracy theories like to be carried.”

Former mayor Job Cohen, who is also chairman of the Amsterdam 4 and 5 May committee, also addressed the attendees. He pointed out the importance of continuing to remember and walking the silent march, because ‘the number of people in the world fleeing war violence or an inhumane existence is growing’.

Vigilance

“Today’s commemoration of the many murdered Jewish Amsterdammers who lived a stone’s throw away and all those others also now requires vigilance: the step from judgment to radical exclusion has now also been made quickly,” said Cohen.

During her speech on Dam Square, radio and TV presenter Dieuwertje Blok stated that commemoration is not passive for her. “For me it’s about the connection you make with now, with the future. What do you do with the intolerance of now, in your own country, your own neighbourhood?”