Nearly every morning I go to the attic to blow the stuffy air out of my lungs, from my favorite spot on the floor I look up at the blue sky and the bare chestnut tree, on whose branches little raindrops shine, appearing like silver, and at the seagulls and other birds as they glide on the wind. As long as this exists, I thought, and I may live to see it, this sunshine, the cloudless skies, while this lasts I cannot be unhappy.
February 23, 1944: The Diary of Anne Frank
On August 23rd, 2010 the approximately 150 year old magnificent Chestnut tree that so inspired a little girl caught up in the madness of war was no more. During a particularly bad storm, the tree, diseased and under great effort to save it, finally gave way and crashed to the ground. A much loved symbol of hope, despair and the inhumanity of war had been lost to the inevitable ravages of time.
The tree may have fallen, but as with any great symbol of our collective experience, this remnant provided its own seeds that would live on. This April, the first of eleven saplings from the tree will be planted in the United States. The project, initiated by the Anne Frank Huis, donated the saplings to The Anne Frank Project USA who selected the eleven locations to receive the trees out of an applicant pool of 34 potential sites.
"The heart of our mission is tolerance. ... Tolerance is really essential for being able to bring better welfare to everybody," said center spokesman Mike Clary.
The eleven sites chosen to receive the trees are:
The White House
The Children’s Museum of Indianapolis
Sonoma State University
Southern Cayuga School District in New York
Washington State Holocaust Resource Center
Boston Common
Central High School, Arkansas
Holocaust Memorial Center, Michigan
Idaho Anne Frank Human Rights Memorial
William J. Clinton Presidential Center, Arkansas
Liberty Park, Commemorating 9/11, New York City
The first tree to be planted will take place at the Children's Museum of Indianapolis this April.
Jeffrey Patchen, president and chief executive officer of the Children’s Museum of Indianapolis, said the sapling planted in the museum’s Peace Park will stand next to a limestone carving of a podium with Anne’s diary on it. A mock chestnut tree looms over the entrance to the museum’s permanent Anne Frank exhibit, which features live performances in a space that teaches visitors about life in the Secret Annex where the Franks hid.
Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas is planting its sapling in September to commemorate the 56th anniversary of the
Little Rock Nine, who braved the mobs hurling hatred and bigotry as they walked into the recently desegregated school.
Both (Anne Frank and the Little Rock Nine) dealt with hatred from ignorant people," said Nancy Rousseau, the school's principal. "All of them displayed great bravery and courage, which wasn't necessarily seen then or now, also, in adults. They were all children.
On my first trip to Amsterdam back in the 80s, I visited the Anne Frank House. As I waited in the long line, I remembered the book I had read when I was about 14. As with countless people before me, Anne's diary touched me and forever changed how I viewed the world. As I entered the house, the weight of the Holocaust became a reality. All the detail she had written in her diary was in front of my very eyes. The museum was crowded but nearly silent. I moved through the house with tears streaming down my face. When I reached the attic I stood in the very spot where Anne had looked out the window and saw for myself the grand Chestnut tree she so lovingly wrote about. I am heartened to know it will live on.
