He questioned the centrality of the anonymous note in the arguments for Van den Bergh's responsibility and said the team made assumptions about wartime Amsterdam Jewish institutions that are not supported by other historical research.Īccording to Somers there are many possible reasons Van den Bergh was never deported as "he was a very influential man". Historian Erik Somers of the Dutch NIOD institute for war, holocaust and genocide studies praised the extensive investigation, but was sceptical of its conclusion. While other members of the Jewish Council were deported in 1943, Van den Bergh was able to remain in the Netherlands. "He knew that people in difficult situations sometimes do things that cannot be morally justified."
Otto "had been in Auschwitz," Van Twisk said. Van Twisk speculated that Frank's reasons to remain silent about the allegation were likely that he could not be sure it was true, that he would not want information to become public that could feed further anti-Semitism, and that he would not want Van den Bergh's three daughters to be blamed for something their father might have done. Investigators confirmed that Otto, the only member of the family to survive the war, was aware of the note but chose never to speak of it publicly. Twisk said only four out of initial 32 names remained following the research, with Van den Bergh the lead suspect. The note said Van den Bergh had access to addresses where Jews were hiding as a member of Amsterdam's wartime Jewish Council and had passed lists of such addresses to the Nazis to save his own family. Investigating team member Pieter van Twisk said the crucial piece of new evidence was an unsigned note to Anne's father Otto found in an old post-war investigation dossier, specifically naming Van den Bergh and alleging he passed on the information. Some other experts emphasised that the evidence against him was not conclusive.
FBI agent Vincent Pankoke and around 20 historians, criminologists and data specialists identified a relatively unknown figure, Jewish notary Arnold van den Bergh, as a leading suspect in revealing the hideout.
All were deported and Anne died in the Bergen Belsen camp at age 15.Ī team that included retired U.S. 4 of that year, after they had hid for nearly two years in a secret annex above a canal-side warehouse in Amsterdam. Anne and seven other Jews were discovered by the Nazis on Aug.
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