The controversial book Anne Frank’s Betrayal has been withdrawn from the market by the publisher Ambo Anthos. On Tuesday, six historical experts published a highly critical study of the way the cold case team worked. Their conclusions are reason for Ambo Anthos to immediately stop supplying the book, in which the Jewish notary Arnold van den Bergh is mentioned as a likely traitor to the Frank family. The publisher asks booksellers to return their stock. That made Ambo Anthos announced on Tuesday evening†
Also read: Cold case investigation into Anne Frank’s betrayal is not good at all, historians judge
Canadian writer Rosemary Sullivan’s book about the investigation into the betrayal of the Frank family has been the target of criticism for some time. In January, the cold case team presented its findings after years of research. The investigation generated a lot of attention at home and abroad, but historians in particular judged that the evidence for the probable betrayal of the Jewish notary Van den Bergh was shaky. On Tuesday, the experts noted that the research the book is about “is based on misuse of sources and unsound argumentation.”
The initiators continued to support their conclusions, but publisher Ambo Anthos apologized a few weeks after publication to “anyone who feels offended by the book” for the contents of the book. The director of the publishing house acknowledged that a “more critical stance” might have been possible. The publisher was also hesitant about an extra print. Meanwhile, criticism of the investigation continued.