THE CHESNUT TREE THAT ANNE FRANK LOVED TO SEE IN THE MORNINGS IS TO BE CHOPPED DOWN...

The Chesnut tree that comforted the young Jewish girl, Anne Frank, where she and her family hid from the Nazis during World War Two, is to be cut down by the local council because it is too diseased to be saved.

The rotting 27 tonne tree has been declared a danger to its surroundings, including the 'secret annex' on top of the canal-side warehouse where the Frank family lived in a tiny attic hidden from the Nazis for 25 months, a statement from the Amersterdam council said recently.

Rapid decay, fungus and moths have caused more than half of the trunk to simply rot away, the council said.

Millions of readers of the book, 'Diary of Anne Frank', over many decades will find the tree familiar - she made several references to it in her diary she kept during the 25 months she remained hidden indoors until August 1944 when the family was arrested by the Nazis and taken to a concentration camp where they all died.

Anne wrote: " Nearly every morning I go to the attic to blow the stuffy air out of my lungs." She wrote on Feb 23, 1944 "From my favourite spot on the floor I look up at the blue sky and the bare Chesnut tree, on whose branches little raindrops shine, appearing like silver, and at the seagulls and other birds as they glide on the world...and I may see it, this sunshine, the cloudless skies - while this lasts I cannot be unhappy." A sad little commentary.

The council has reluctantly given a licence to cut the tree down, despite protests from the 'Anne Frank Museum' - where the tiny apartment has been preserved.

Grafts have been taken from the tree and a sapling will eventually replace the tree, and the memory of a brave little girl will continue for ever, there in that canal-side warehouse.

The Writers Lounge
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