Canada unveils new statue to Anne Frank on anniversary of her arrest

On Aug. 8, 2021, officials in Edmonton unveiled the first sculpture of Anne Frank anywhere in Canada. The world’s newest memorial to her—a life-sized bronze sculpture gifted by a Dutch-Canadian group based in Alberta—now sits in a park in Edmonton. It's is a replica of one that stands in Utrecht, Netherlands.

The unveiling marks the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Holland in the Second World War, and gives thanks to the Canadian soldiers who freed their country from Nazi Germany in 1945. But there's a second meaning behind the timing—and it's a strange coincidence. On this weekend, 77 years ago, Nazis raided the secret annex in Amsterdam where Frank and her family had been hiding for nearly two years and arrested them. A few days later, they were sent to the Westerbork transit camp, and later they would be shipped to Auschwitz.

Today, we’ll hear from the people who pushed for the statue and raised $75,000 to create and erect it, and we're joined by Gillian Horwitz, who runs Holocaust programming for the Jewish Federation of Edmonton, and Steve Shafir, the federation's president, who were at the unveiling ceremony in person.

What we talked about:

• Watch the full statue unveiling on YouTube
• Read about the Canadian Society for Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial Site at Earl Bales Park at yadvashem.ca

The CJN Daily is written and hosted by Ellin Bessner (@ebessner on Twitter). Victoria Redden is the producer. Michael Fraiman is the executive producer. Our theme music is by Dov Beck-Levine. Our title sponsor is Metropia. Find more great Jewish podcasts at thecjn.ca.