The Kita Anne Frank day care has operated in Tangerhütte, Germany for more than 50 years. But now, parents are pressuring the facility to change its name, according to German media reports.
Jewish teenager Anne Frank kept a diary of her time in hiding from Nazis during World War II. Anne and her family were eventually discovered and sent to Auschwitz, where Anne ultimately died.
According to The Jerusalem Post, the school will likely be renamed to “World Explorers” because migrant parents found it difficult to explain Frank’s significance to their children.
City officials, on the other hand, remained steadfast in their decision to change the name. According to the report, the renaming is part of a broader concept that aims to celebrate the diversity of the children attending the daycare center, according to Andreas Brohm, the city’s mayor.
The BILD newspaper added “Ultimately, the parents and employees wanted a name that was more ‘child-friendly’ and ‘better suited to their concept.’ Their needs are more important than the global political situation.”
German media outlet, Apollo News, reported that Tangerhütte’s mayor, Andreas Brohm, said that he felt it was important that the day-care center moved beyond the recent conflict in Israel with Hamas and that the new name had “more weight compared to the global political situation.”
This is appalling. A German daycare center named after Anne Frank is changing its name.
German media reports that parents want the center to push a message more focused on “international diversity.”
Hear that? They are promoting diversity by erasing Jews.
— Aviva Klompas (@AvivaKlompas) November 6, 2023
The Miteinander eV organization disagreed with the decision arguing that there are effective and age-appropriate educational concepts for teaching children and young people about Frank’s life and the historical significance it holds.
The desire to change the name of the “Anne Frank” daycare center in Tangerhütte is (not only) a wrong signal in a time of rising anti-Semitism. Right now, we need a high level of sensitivity to the impact of such symbolic renaming and a historical awareness.
In the debate about the renaming, voices are now being raised that attribute the motivation for this to anti-Semitic sentiments or speculate about the pressure exerted by migrant parents. There is currently no evidence for either.
In fact, parents and teachers at the daycare center seem to have no idea how Anne Frank’s life and fate can be conveyed to children in an age-appropriate way. Apparently, remembrance work is primarily perceived as a burden and not as an opportunity for children to learn about human rights. There are tried and tested educational concepts for sensitively conveying the fate of Jewish children during the National Socialist era to children that are worth examining for their applicability in Tangerhütte.
The move comes as a wave of antisemitism rolls across Europe.
The Gateway Pundit reported that fear is increasing for Jewish residents after Stars of David were painted on buildings across Paris and its suburbs.
The symbol, echoing the Nazi regime’s targeting of Jews during the Holocaust, has appeared on at least 60 buildings in the southern district of Paris.
France is not the only European country facing these disturbing and threatening acts.
Breitbart News reported that the home of a young Jewish woman, in the Prenzlauer Berg area of Berlin, Germany, was branded with the Star of David in the days after the October 7th attacks.
