AT5Anne Frank statue defaced in Amsterdam
NOS News•yesterday, 11:19•Modified yesterday, 15:11
Three statues in Amsterdam-Zuid have been defaced with red paint and sprayed with the text ‘Free Gaza’. Among others, the statue of Anne Frank on the Merwedeplein has been smeared. The hands have been painted red.
A passerby discovered the graffiti on Merwedeplein this morning, a police spokesperson said. The municipality will clean the statue and the police have started an investigation. Witnesses are requested to come forward, writes city broadcaster AT5.
According to the broadcaster, at least six statues in the Amsterdam-Zuid district have been defaced. Among others, red paint and the text ‘Gaza’ can be seen on the statue of Indian freedom leader Mahatma Gandhi on the nearby Churchilllaan and a resistance monument on the Apollolaan.
- AT5Image Mahatma Gandhi on Churchilllaan
- AT5Image of the boy with rabbits on the Muzenplein bridge
- AT5Resistance Monument on Apollolaan
The police are investigating whether the various graffiti are related. Witnesses are being spoken to and the police are calling on other witnesses to come forward.
80 years ago
It is the second time in a short period that the statue of Anne Frank has been defaced. It also happened in early July. Then the feet were painted red and the word ‘Gaza’ was sprayed on the pedestal.
The statue stands on the Merwedeplein because Anne Frank lived there with her parents and sister from 1933 to 1942. After that, the family had to go into hiding in the Secret Annex on the Prinsengracht.
Today it is exactly 80 years ago that Anne Frank was discovered there together with the other people in hiding and taken away. She died in early 1945 at the age of 15 in the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp. The diary she wrote during the Second World War was published after her death and is a widely read book worldwide.
The Anne Frank Foundation has learned “with horror” of the graffiti. “This graffiti touches our hearts once again,” says general director Ronald Leopold. “The image reminds us of a young girl, with ambitions and dreams. A girl who was murdered, solely because she was Jewish.”
The statue has also been pulled from its place and the pedestal has also been broken before. The Anne Frank Foundation will file a complaint about the graffiti.
‘Disrespectful and scandalous’
The municipality of Amsterdam also announced that it will file a report of the various graffiti. “It is disrespectful and scandalous,” says a spokesperson for mayor Femke Halsema. “We will clean everything as quickly as possible.”
