NUR-SULTAN - "Diary of Anne Frank" book presentation and opening of the traveling exhibition "Anne Frank. History Lessons" were held today in the Library of the First President of Kazakhstan.

The events dedicated to the International Holocaust Remembrance Day were organized by the Embassies of Israel and the Netherlands in Kazakhstan and "Steppe&World" Publishing House within the framework of the international project of the Library of the First President "Dialogue through Culture".

“This year the whole world is celebrating the 75th anniversary of Victory in the Great Patriotic War. We know about the tragic consequences of this terrible war firsthand. Our fathers and grandfathers fought for our Motherland against fascism, and our mothers and grandmothers are an inviolable example of selflessness and fortitude. Modern Kazakh society preserves the traditions of ancestors, who have never had the tendency to display xenophobia and anti-semitism. On the contrary, interethnic harmony and tolerance are the timeless values of which we are rightly proud. I am sure that Anne Frank's diary in Kazakh will find grateful readers, and "Anne Frank. Lessons from History" exhibition will become a necessary illustration to those images, which are born while reading the diary, that is recognized as the object of the UNESCO Memory of the World Register” said Amerkhan Rakhimzhanov, Director of the Library of the First President of Kazakhstan.

Ambassador Liat Wexelman noted that the original version of "Diary of Anna Frank" was translated from Dutch into 70 languages and now it has been translated into Kazakh.

“The diary will be a great message for students in Kazakhstan. On January 27, the world remembers the 6 million Jews who were the Holocaust victims. Last week, an official event was held in Jerusalem in Israel to mark the 75th anniversary of the liberation from Auschwitz-Birkenau. 47 leaders from all over the world gathered at the ceremony to commemorate the Holocaust and fight against anti-Semitism. In particular, Russian President Vladimir Putin, the US Vice President Mike Pence, French President Emmanuel Macron and many other leaders took part in the Commemoration Ceremony. In the fight against hatred around the world, we put great importance to the education of the younger generation so that there are no tragedies like the Holocaust. Therefore, we have been inviting schools in Nur-Sultan for several years to implement educational projects dedicated to the memory of the Holocaust victims," Ambassador Liat Wexelman said.

Also the Ambassador shared her memories on visiting the Anne Frank House and Museum in Amsterdam.

“I remember that moment. In 1999, when Time Magazine published a list of the most important people of the 20th century, Anne Frank was included in the list of heroes. It should be noted that the many people who were not indifferent to life became the Holocaust victims. Thousands of Jews have been resettled in Kazakhstan and other Central Asian countries. They felt safe in Kazakhstan. Israel always remembers and appreciates the help of Kazakhstan in a difficult moment” said Israeli Ambassador.

The diary, one of the most famous Holocaust documents, contains the records of 13-year-old Anne Frank from June 12, 1942 to August 1, 1944, during the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands in the "Shelter", where eight people were hiding from Nazi persecution. On 4 August 1944, all the inhabitants of "Shelter" were arrested by German police and sent to concentration camps. Only Otto Frank, Anne's father, survived out of the eight people and later published his daughter's diary. The diary was first published in the Netherlands in 1947. Nowadays the diary has been translated into 70 languages of the world and it is presented to the readers in Kazakh for the first time by "Steppe&World" publishing house.

Materials of the exhibition "Anne Frank. History Lessons" tells in detail about the girl’s fate, who was one of the six million Jews died in the Holocaust. It is organized to introduce the story of Anne Frank and the world she lived in. It tells about anti-Semitism, discrimination, persecution, but also about the positive aspects as resistance and people's reactions to things like freedom, equality and democracy, about how important is Anne Frank’s story in our days.

The traveling exhibition "Anne Frank. Lessons from History" travels around the world and has already visited more than 60 countries of North and South America, South Africa and many European countries with more than 12 million visitors.

It should be noted that the exhibition will continue until February 16, 2020.

Back to the list