GB News’s Nana Akua has expressed her outrage at a school in East Germany named after holocaust victim Anne Frank has changed its name, in favour of something ‘without political background’.
The school in the German town of Tangerhütte will change its name to “world explorer kindergarten”.
Nana joined Mark Dolan on GBN Tonight to discuss the name change, with Dolan asking: “Given the flare up of anti-Semitism across Europe, this feels problematic, doesn't it?”
Nana replied, “Well, it does a bit. And in particular, I mean places like Germany, where, you know, this has a very chequered past. With all of that, doesn't it really?
Nana Akua speaks with Mark Dolan about a nursery in Germany removing Anne Frank from its name.
GB News
“And with their history, I would have thought that in these times it might be wise to keep the name.
“And also Anne Frank was an absolute legend. Kind of a hero of her time. So, you know, we hear about how resilient she was, the Diaries and everything that she did, how she went through the Holocaust.
“Really what they should do is actually give the parents a history lesson and an education lesson on who Anne Frank was and what exactly happened to her.
“Because it's a sort of history that you never want to see repeated. But we seem to be seeing it happen now. I think even now more than ever, we need to keep the reminders of things like that present so that we don't repeat them again.”
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German media outlets reported that the move came in accordance with the wishes of parents from ‘migrant backgrounds’.
Dolan continued the conversation, saying: “I just wonder whether this is about appeasing certain groups in society, because they did talk about how diverse German society, that Anne Frank would somehow offend some families. I mean, this is a dark place to inhabit, isn't it?”
“Well, why would that offend somebody? It's something that's placed on there to have a look at some of the history that's behind it.”
Anne Frank was considered to have too 'political' a background“Of course Anne was hidden in an annex, wasn't she? And it was a cleaner. Eventually, that got them out and told everybody where they were. But, you know, it was a story of how they survived.
“It was an incredible journey as well. And I think we like something with a historical context, a story and a meaning to it.
“It's a bit like putting Beyoncé in the history book as something for the kids to study. It feels a bit shallow.”
Mark closed the discussion: “Well, definitely you're so right. And listen that the school have said that they just didn't want somebody political. What? I don't think Anne Frank is political. She's an incredible human being, a teenage girl that kept a diary whilst being pursued by the Nazis. She was not political.”