WNEW-15-11-Holland-AnneFrankMemorial-eng
November 2011
Netherlands State Secretary of Health, Welfare and Sport
Visits Anne Frank Memorial
“Strength, Joie de Vivre and a Love of Nature”
Two Dutch officials, the
Netherlands State Secretary
of Health, Welfare and Sport
and
the
Netherlands
Ambassador
to
Israel,
recently paid a visit to the
Anne
Frank
Memorial
established by KKL-JNF in
the Martyrs’ Forest in the
Jerusalem Corridor, with the
support of KKL-JNF’s
Friends in Holland.
“Like Anne Frank’s diary,
this beautiful memorial site
conveys strength, joie de
vivre and a love of nature,
even though it tells the story
of a great tragedy,” said
Dutch State Secretary of
Health, Welfare and Sport,
Mrs.
M.L.L.E.
Veldhuijzen van ZantenHyllner.
Andy Michelson presents Veldhuijzen van Zanten-Hyllner
with a KKL-JNF certificate and a copy of The Diary of
Anne Frank
This
remarkable
remembrance
site
was
established in memory of
the Jewish teenager who
perished in the Holocaust
after spending two years in
hiding from the Nazis in
Amsterdam, together with
the rest of her family. Anne
died
in
Bergen-Belsen
concentration camp in 1945,
The Dutch delegation studies the plaques along the way
at the age of sixteen, but the
diary she wrote survived and
became one of the most moving documents to record the atrocities of the Holocaust, as
viewed through the eyes of an adolescent girl.
The
memorial
was
originally dedicated on
Holocaust
Remembrance
Day in May 2011, with the
participation of prominent
figures from Israel and
abroad who had arrived
specially to attend the
ceremony. Among them
were Professor Moshe
Kon, President of KKL-JNF
Holland and Mr. Eli Van
Dam, CEO of KKL-JNF
Holland. The site includes a
unique memorial, a wall of
appreciation to the site's
donors and a woodland path
bordered by a row of
explanatory
plaques
Veldhuijzen van Zanten-Hyllner attempts to sit on the
bench inside the memorial
describing the site and Anna
Frank’s life, together with
quotations from the famous
diary. In her diary, Anne
wrote extensively about the
natural world, which she
missed so acutely while in
hiding.
As they walked along the
path, the members of the
Dutch delegation paused
beside the plaques and read
them, reflecting on the
contrast between the terrible
story they told and the
pastoral tranquility of the
beautiful forest.
Picnic spot adjacent to the walking trail
“Anyone who is afraid, alone or unhappy can certainly find no better remedy than this: to
wander somewhere in the bosom of nature, in a place where he is alone with the sky, the
landscape and God, because only then does Man feel that everything is as it should be, and
that God wants people to be happy. As long as that exists, I know that in every circumstance
there is a comforter for every sorrow,” (from the Diary of Anne Frank, February, 1944).
“This beautiful and moving site communicates a sense of tranquility, even though it tells of
appalling horrors,” said Netherlands Ambassador Caspar Veldkamp. “Anne Frank turned
this vast tragedy into a personal story that everyone can identify with,” he added. “The diary
was written in a cramped hiding place in a crowded city, and it speaks of the longing for
nature and the open air. If Anne Frank had been able to come here to this forest, I’m sure she
would have felt at home here.”
Throughout their visit, the guests heard explanations from KKL-JNF representatives Andy
Michelson, KKL-JNF Master of Ceremonies, and Yehudit Perl-Strasser of KKL-JNF's
European Desk. Michelson spoke about the Martyrs’ Forest, where KKL-JNF has planted six
million trees in memory of the victims of the Holocaust. In her speech, Perl-Strasser
emphasized the wonderful cooperation with Friends of KKL-JNF in Holland.
At the end of the path, the visitors reached the memorial, where a space has been designed to
resemble a small room constructed of hollow steel. In one corner stands a single stool, too
high to be sat on comfortably. Through a narrow aperture in the shape of a chestnut tree, the
green landscape can be seen – freedom as viewed from within prison walls.
“This exhibit reflects the sensations of a person confined in a limited space and cut off from
his surroundings, deprived of access to nature and forced into loneliness,” explained the
memorial’s designer, Piet Cohen, who also spent part of his Dutch childhood in hiding from
the Nazis.
The two Netherlands officials tried sitting on the metal stool in the corner of the room, and
the emotions they experienced as they did so could clearly be read on their faces. “We have to
ensure that the Holocaust is never forgotten and that it never repeats itself,” said van ZantenHyllner.
“Anne Frank’s story and sites like the one established by KKL-JNF are an excellent way to
get members of the young generation to connect to this important chapter of history.”
This remarkable project is not yet complete, and Friends of KKL-JNF in Holland are busy
raising additional funds that will be used to make the path at the Anne Frank Memorial
wheelchair accessible, and to continue the development of a number of additional projects:
the further construction of the scenic trail to a length of eight kilometers; protective flood
banks along the Kisalon River, which flows nearby; and fire-prevention measures in the dense
woodland.
At the end of the tour, after KKL-JNF representatives had presented her with a certificate of
appreciation and a copy of The Diary of Anne Frank, the Dutch State Secretary of Health,
Welfare and Sport told those present that she had recently paid a visit to the Anne Frank
House in Amsterdam, and had been very moved to see that the chestnut tree mentioned in the
diary, which fell down three years ago, had once again put forth green shoots. The old tree
has not died, despite the fungus that has attacked it and the wind that has broken its trunk.
Thus, too, the Jewish People continues to survive, despite all the horrors it has experienced.
For Articles, comments or use please contact
Ahuva Bar-Lev
KKL-JNF – Information and Publications
Email: ahuvab@kkl.org.il
Phone: 972-2-6583354 Fax:972-2-6583493
www.kkl.org.il/eng