Damage to Anne Frank's diary

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The damage to the diary of Anne Frank ( ア ン ネ の 日記 破損 事件 Anne no nikki hason jiken ) involved extensive damage to property, in particular to book editions of Anne Frank's diary , but also to other books on Anne Frank , which were published in February 2014 in Libraries of Tokyo. In total, more than 300 books were damaged. The incident was investigated by the police. There was no charge.

overview

On February 20, 2014, staff at a public library in Tokyo noticed that someone had torn pages from Anne Frank's diary. Research revealed that a large number of books, Japanese books, books for young people and those in foreign languages, including the diary, but also research literature and literature on the Holocaust , had been damaged in public libraries in the northwestern boroughs of Tokyo . The public libraries in the districts of Suginami , Nakano , Nerima , Shinjuku , Toshima , Musashino , Nishitōkyō and in the city of Higashikurume were particularly hard hit . Pages had been removed from the books by hand or with a cutter knife. The libraries then filed a complaint about property damage and reported damage to the local police authorities . In addition, the diary was blocked for lending. Further damage was discovered in the libraries and also in the Yokohama Central Library in Kanagawa Prefecture .

In a branch of the bookstore chain Junkudō ( ジ ュ ン ク Buch 書店 ) in Kanagawa, the employees also noticed damage to books on the Holocaust topic.

Overview
district Number of
institutions affected		 Number of
damaged books
Suginami 11 121
Nakano 05 054
Nerima 09 044
Shinjuku 03 039
Toshima 03 012
Musashino 02 017th
Nishitōkyō 03 010
Higashikurume 04th 013
Yokohama 02 002
Junkudō 01 008th

detection

The police set up a special commission which is headquartered at the Suginami Police Department. On March 14, 2014, at the Okikubu Library in Kodaira, police arrested an unemployed 36-year-old man who was suspected of damaging 23 books in the library. The man had previously been arrested for hanging up notes with a photo of Osamu Tezuka and handwritten text at the Junkudō bookstore where books had been damaged between February 19 and 22 . He admitted the damage to property and stated that he had thrown away the removed book pages. As a motive, the man stated that Anne Frank did not write the diary herself. He admitted that he was responsible for damage to books in 38 libraries, but denied having anything to do with the damage in the libraries of Yokohama. The man was repeatedly in inpatient psychiatric treatment in the past, which is why the police did not provide a name. On June 20, 2014, the Tōkyō District Public Prosecutor's Office suspended charges of the man's insanity at the time of the offense.

Response and aftermath

On February 21, Cabinet Secretary General Yoshihide Suga spoke about the incident at a press conference. He stated: "For our country this is an unacceptable incident, which is extremely regrettable and shameful." Abroad, the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam commented that it was a shocking incident, about which full details are being disclosed would have to. The Simon Wiesenthal Center commented that the incident was a systematic attempt to discredit the memory of the Holocaust and that the identity of the perpetrator and the investigation must be made known. Then asked Hakubun Shimomura , Minister of MEXT at a press conference on February 28, 2019 sincere forgiveness. The damaged libraries received 300 books on Anne Frank and the Holocaust from the Israeli embassy in Japan. The Anne Frank House Foundation also donated illustrated books and a model of Anne Frank's hiding place. In addition, there were private donations such as 137 books in the name of Chiune Sugihara .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Anne Frank books damaged in Tokyo vandal attacks. In: The Guardian. Guardian News & Media, accessed November 6, 2019 .
  2. ↑ ア ン ネ ・ フ ラ ン ク 関 連 書籍 の 破損 被害 に つ い て . 杉 並 区 立 図 書 , accessed November 6, 2019 (Japanese).
  3. ↑ 平 成 25 年度 第 4 回 （平 成 26 年 3 月 12 日） 図 書館 運 営 協議 会 会議 録 （要旨 . (PDF) Shinjuku District, accessed November 6, 2019 (Japanese).
  4. ↑ -1 - 豊 島 区 図 書館 経 営 協議 会 . (PDF) Toshima District, accessed September 3, 2014 (Japanese). }
  5. ↑ a b Japan arrest over Anne Frank book vandalism. BBC, accessed November 6, 2019 .
  6. ^ A b 265 Anne Frank books, including her diary, damaged by vandals in Tokyo public libraries. In: City News. Rogers Digital Media, accessed October 27, 2019 .