Features / history
The tree on Brandon Hill remembering Anne Frank
Trees planted throughout the UK in 2009 on what would have been the 80th birthday of Anne Frank were intended to ensure that her story is not forgotten.
But the tree in Brandon Hill close to Charlotte Street South has no plaque to mark it out from the hundreds of other trees in the park.
In fact, the only sign that this is the tree remembering the diarist who was only 15 when she died in Bergen-Belsen concentration camp is a laminated piece of paper on one of its branches indicating that it is part of a lockdown trail tree.
is needed now More than ever
On what is International Holocaust Remembrance Day, my eldest daughter and I visited the tree – a ginkgo biloba – which was planted after Bristol Cathedral (which can just be seen from this spot) hosted a touring exhibition remembering Anne’s life.
Anne and other members of her family were among millions of Jews murdered in Nazi concentration camps during the Second World War.
January 27 marks the anniversary of the liberation in 1945 by Soviet troops of Auschwitz-Birkenau, where Anne and her family were taken the previous year.
Anne Frank in her final year of primary school in 1940 – photo: Anne Frank Stichting, Amsterdam / photographer unknown
Leading the tree planting event in 2009, deputy chief executive of Bristol City Council, Jon House, said: “Anne Frank has become a symbol of the millions who have suffered persecution throughout the world because of prejudice and hatred and the ongoing fight to challenge it that we all share.
“Bristol City Council has an important leadership role to play in bringing communities together and building better neighbourhoods, creating equality of opportunity for everyone and defending the most disadvantaged in our city.”
The tree remembering Anne Frank is in the corner of Brandon Hill closest to Charlotte Street – photo: Martin Booth
In an article about the tree, Bristol Tree Forum quote Anne’s father, Otto, who said: “If the end of the world were imminent, I still would plant a tree today.”
They write: “A chestnut tree behind the secret annex in Amsterdam where Anne and her family hid was one of Anne’s only links to the outside world during her years in hiding, but, by 2009 it had become diseased.
“This tree in Bristol, and many others like it, reminds us of the consolation and pleasure that trees can bring us, and of the tragedy that befell Anne, her family and all those who have suffered persecution.”
The tree is on the site of Bethesda Chapel that used to be located on the corner of Great George Street and Charlotte Street South – photo: Martin Booth
Main photo: Martin Booth
Read more: 15 things you probably didn’t know about Brandon Hill
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