Hundreds of Copies of The Diary of Anne Frank Vandalized in Japanese Libraries

Posted on February 21, 2014

The New York Times reports that the Japanese government is now investigating the mutilation of hundreds of copies of The Diary of Anne Frank, the diary of a young Jewish woman whose family was hidden from the Nazis in a neighbor's house in occupied Amsterdam until they were betrayed. Anne died in a concentration camp at the age of 15.

Two hundred sixty-five copies of the book have been vandalized in 31 different libraries in Tokyo. Librarians are extremely upset about the vandalism and have put the remaining copies behind the circulation desk to protect them. The mutilated books have been slashed with a razor or knife and have had pages cut out.

Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told reports how disappointed he was at the vandalism. He described the acts as "extremely regrettable and shameful." The Simon Wiesenthal Center which promotes Jewish human rights said in a statement, "Only people imbued with bigotry and hatred would seek to destroy Anne's historic words of courage, hope and love in the face of impending doom." We hope they catch the perpetrators and put a stop to such vile acts. The AP has more on the story: