The coming days will see the 75th anniversary of the death of Anne and Margot Frank. The two sisters suffered the consequences of disease, weakness, and hunger in the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp. After being transferred to the sick barracks, they lay next to each other until Margot died. Anne then died a few days later. The exact dates of their death are not recorded. The sisters were hastily buried in an anonymous mass grave in the grounds of the concentration camp. After the betrayal of the secret annex in Amsterdam in August 1944, they had been deported to the Westerbork and Auschwitz concentration camps. On 15 April, the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp was liberated by British troops. When their father, Otto Frank, was liberated from Auschwitz by the Red Army, he knew that his wife Edith had died, but was unaware of the fate of his daughters. As the sole survivor of the inhabitants of the secret annex, he first returned to Amsterdam before finally settling in Basel. He dedicated his life to publishing and disseminating the diary of his daughter, Anne Frank.
Through her diary, Anne Frank has become a symbolic figure around the world representing the victims of anti-Semitism, fascism, and racism.
In 1963, Otto Frank established the Anne Frank Fonds Basel and designated the foundation as his sole heir and legal successor. The Anne Frank Fonds Basel represents the family and its archives. The foundation is responsible for the global publication of the diary of Anne Frank and other writings as a historical document of the 20th century.
This diary is read all over the world, including in schools, and forms part of the prescribed curriculum in many countries. The Anne Frank Fonds works around the world to strengthen human rights, in particular the rights of children and women, and to promote a more just society. Profits from the licensing of the diary are used for charitable, educational, and scientific purposes. From the very beginning, the family refused to take income from the books. On the occasion of the 75th anniversary of the day of death and of the end of the war, John Goldsmith, President of the Anne Frank Fonds, stated: “In these times of anti-Semitic and discriminating threats by extremists and of children fleeing from war regimes, Otto Frank's vision shows more than ever that it is essential to strengthen civil society for peace-building.” He went on to say: “Anne Frank's texts are evidence of a fate that serves as a testimony against looking away. This is why, in addition to other projects, the Anne Frank Fonds, together with the charity UNICEF, is committed to strengthening the Convention of the Rights of the Child.”