Breaking News: Anne Frank Tree Collapsed
By diamania
@diamania (7011)
Netherlands
August 23, 2010 9:16am CST
[i] AMSTERDAM — The Anne Frank Museum says the monumental chestnut tree that cheered the teenage diarist while she was in hiding from the Nazis has toppled over.
"It broke off like a match. It broke off completely about one meter off the ground," the spokesman for the house-turned-museum told Reuters.
The diseased tree made headlines around the world in 2007 when Amsterdam officials ordered it cut down for safety's sake.
Supporters who saw the tree as a symbol of freedom protested and it was granted a last-minute reprieve.
The 27-ton tree was encased in a steel support system, but that failed under windy weather conditions Monday.
Museum spokeswoman Maatje Mostart told the Associated Press that the trunk fell into neighboring gardens, damaging several sheds. No one was hurt.
Many clones of the tree have been taken.
Frank wrote about it several times in her diary. [/i]
Courtesy: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/38814121/ns/world_news-europe/
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What a sad news. I just can't believe it. That tree was so important as it was a symbol of freedom.
Does it make you sad too? Have you ever seen the tree in real life?
1 person likes this
9 responses
@Angelwriter (1954)
• United States
23 Aug 10
I've read about the tree, but I have no connection to it, so it doesn't make me sad. And if a tree Anne Frank wrote about is a symbol of freedom, isn't there another symbol still going strong? The diary itself? Isn't it the diary that elevated that tree to the status it had for people?
2 people like this
@o0jopak0o (6394)
• Philippines
24 Aug 10
well i have heard about this one before, that the tree has some kind of disease. I hope they plant a new one on the same spot with the same kind of tree so their will still be the memory of her
@madteaparty (2748)
• Japan
24 Aug 10
I have seen that tree in real life, and I'm sad that it's not there anymore 
It endured a lot, but everything has to face an end
It endured a lot, but everything has to face an end 
@tomitomi (5429)
• Singapore
23 Aug 10
That tree has been iconic since. Such a sad news although I've not seen it personally but have seen it in tv before. It's so synonymous with Anne Frank.
@fannitia (2167)
• Bulgaria
23 Aug 10
I'm Jewish and I know about Anne Frank. I haven't been in Amsterdam so I haven't seen the tree. I'm not sad about it - if the mother nature has decided to take it away, so be it. The memory about this girl can survive without it. And I'm glad that the drama is over without nobody being hurt.
@Hatley (163781)
• Garden Grove, California
23 Aug 10
hi daimania yes indeed.the tree was a symbol to most of us of hope and freedom and it does make me very sad.I have never seen the tree in real life, just photos about it and Anne Frank. I read her diary and cried as I read it. what a girl so brave so unfearing and how awful to go like'
that. I was a young woman during the Second World war and Anne Frank really stood out in my young mind I thought her the bravest of the brave and wondered if I could have been like that had I been in that situation.
@hardworkinggurl (37063)
• United States
23 Aug 10
So very sad a memorable token now fallen. I have read the diary of Ann Frank and found it to be great.
Thanks for sharing.
@2004cqui (2812)
• United States
23 Aug 10
When you see a tree, know that it will one day die. When you see an animal (even man is an animal), know that it will die. It's hard but everything has a reason. I have been deeply touched by people of the Jewish faith and I probably would even be here if it wasn't for one Jewish man. Once my son asked me what on the earth is something that won't break? We all know that answer is Nothing! A tree that was full grown since Anne Frank was on the earth? That is monumental on its own!
