Ancient history

Who betrayed Anne Frank to the Germans? A solution to the historical mystery?

A six-year investigation into the unsolved case of Anne Frank's betrayer has led to a surprise suspect in the death of the teenage writer of the famous diary, who was discovered in her hiding place by an Amsterdam canal, who died in a Nazi concentration camp in 1945.

A relatively unknown person, Jewish notary Arnold van den Berg, was named by the investigative team that included retired FBI agent Vincent Pancock and about 20 historians, criminologists and data experts.

More than 75 years after the Nazis stormed this building in Amsterdam, investigators have concluded that it is "very likely" that Van den Berg turned in the Frank family to save his own, Peter van Tuisk said today. member of the investigative team, at the NBC newspaper.

Anna was discovered on August 4, 1944, after being in hiding for two years. Mip Gies, one of the family's assistants, kept Anna's diary safe until it was published by Anna's father, Otto, in 1947, two years after his daughter's death in the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp at the age of 15 years old. Anne Frank's diary, which had millions of readers around the world, has been translated into 60 languages.

The attempt to identify the traitor was not intended to lead to a prosecution, but to solve one of the greatest mysteries in WWII Holland. Using Big Data analysis techniques, a master database of lists of Nazi collaborators, informants, historical documents, police records and previous investigations was created in order to uncover new evidence.

Dozens of scenarios and suspect locations were visualized on a map in order to identify the traitor, based on knowledge of the hideout, motivation and opportunities available. The findings of the new research will be published in Canadian author Rosemary Sullivan's book The Traitor of Anne Frank, which will be released tomorrow, Tuesday. Dozens of suspects have been named over the past decades, but never before have modern investigative techniques been so extensively applied to identify a suspect.

APE-ME