A sapling from Amsterdam embodies symbol of nature, continuity, hope in times of hate
While Anne Frank, her family, and others hid from Nazis in a secret annex in Amsterdam, the view of a giant chestnut tree near the building gave her not only an experience of hope but also a connection to a world beyond their hiding place. “Our chestnut tree is in full blossom. It is covered with leaves and is even more beautiful than last year,” she wrote in May 1944, not long before the group was arrested and eventually deported to concentration camps.
The 150- to 170-year-old tree was felled by a storm on August 23rd, 2010. Saplings from the original tree had already been planted in an Amsterdam park and delivered to locations around the world—and on September 27th one of those saplings was planted in Montreal. Post world war two, Montreal welcomed the third largest proportion of Holocaust survivors in the world, after Israel and New York.
We speak with Audrey Licop, Events and Communication Coordinator of the Montreal Holocaust Memorial Centre.
