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»Anne Frank Day Care Center« in Tangerhütte: New concept, new name?

Photo: Peter Gercke / dpa-Zentralbild / picture alliance / dpa

A change of name to the "Anne Frank" daycare center in Tangerhütte, which has apparently been planned for some time, has triggered criticism against the backdrop of the Gaza war. The mayor of the city in Saxony-Anhalt, Andreas Brohm (independent), has now made it clear that nothing has been decided yet. The discussions are still ongoing, "without a decision being made at the moment," Brohm said in writing.

The »Magdeburger Volksstimme« had reported on it at the weekend, as well as other media in the meantime.

Concept change as a reason?

Anne Frank was born in Frankfurt am Main in 1929 to Jewish parents. Her family fled from the Nazis to the Netherlands in 1933. From 1942 to 1944 she hid in a secret annex. During this time, Anne Frank wrote a diary that is one of the most widely read works in world literature. In 1945, Anne Frank died in the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp at the age of 15.

Brohm wrote that the background to the planned renaming was a renewal process towards open work, which the daycare center had undergone in the past 14 months. "Long before the current discussions and events, the discussion already arose at the beginning of 2023 to make this fundamental change in concept visible to the outside world by changing the name of the institution in order to visibly mark this fundamental new beginning."

"Maybe you'll reconsider?"

In an open letter, the executive vice-president of the International Auschwitz Committee, Christoph Heubner, criticized the planned renaming. He addressed the people of Tangerhütte: "If, dear citizens of Tangerhütte, I had one piece of advice to give, I would advise Anne Frank to fight and not to walk away wordless and sad if she is to be chased away again in her German homeland. Maybe you'll reconsider?"

Mayor Brohm wrote in his statement: "Tangerhütte with its educational institutions and all its civic commitment stands for a cosmopolitan Germany that is at the same time just as aware of its historical responsibility as it is of its educational mission."

According to the »Magdeburger Volksstimme«, the daycare centre has borne the name »Anne Frank« since the early seventies. The new name should be "World Explorers".

bbr/dpa