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| Hundreds of Anne Frank Books Vandalized in Japan | Hundreds of Anne Frank Books Vandalized in Japan |
| (7 months later) | |
| TOKYO — Japan on Friday promised to begin an investigation into the mysterious mutilation of hundreds of copies of “Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl” and other books related to her at public libraries across Tokyo. | |
| Local news media reports said 31 municipal libraries had found 265 copies of the diary by Frank, the young Holocaust victim, and other books vandalized, usually with several pages torn or ripped out. The reports said some libraries had taken copies of the diary off their shelves to protect them. | Local news media reports said 31 municipal libraries had found 265 copies of the diary by Frank, the young Holocaust victim, and other books vandalized, usually with several pages torn or ripped out. The reports said some libraries had taken copies of the diary off their shelves to protect them. |
| Officials said they did not know the motive for the vandalism, the first cases of which were discovered earlier this month. | Officials said they did not know the motive for the vandalism, the first cases of which were discovered earlier this month. |
| Anti-Semitism is not common in Japan, but magazine articles and books have occasionally been written that deny the Holocaust or claim that a Jewish conspiracy was behind various historical events. One book, published in 1979, wrongly proclaimed that Enola Gay, the name of the United States B-29 bomber that dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima, meant “Kill the Emperor” in Yiddish. (The plane was named after the pilot’s mother.) | Anti-Semitism is not common in Japan, but magazine articles and books have occasionally been written that deny the Holocaust or claim that a Jewish conspiracy was behind various historical events. One book, published in 1979, wrongly proclaimed that Enola Gay, the name of the United States B-29 bomber that dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima, meant “Kill the Emperor” in Yiddish. (The plane was named after the pilot’s mother.) |
| On Friday, the top government spokesman, Yoshihide Suga, expressed disappointment at the damage, saying that the police would investigate. “It is extremely regrettable and shameful,” he told reporters. | On Friday, the top government spokesman, Yoshihide Suga, expressed disappointment at the damage, saying that the police would investigate. “It is extremely regrettable and shameful,” he told reporters. |
| He spoke a day after the Simon Wiesenthal Center, the Los Angeles-based Jewish human rights group, issued a statement expressing “shock and deep concern” over the vandalism. “Only people imbued with bigotry and hatred would seek to destroy Anne’s historic words of courage, hope and love in the face of impending doom,” it said. | He spoke a day after the Simon Wiesenthal Center, the Los Angeles-based Jewish human rights group, issued a statement expressing “shock and deep concern” over the vandalism. “Only people imbued with bigotry and hatred would seek to destroy Anne’s historic words of courage, hope and love in the face of impending doom,” it said. |
| The diary, written by Frank as she and her family hid from the Nazis, was published after her death in a concentration camp at age 15. It has been widely read in Japan, as in many other countries, and is one of the best-known testimonies about the Holocaust. | The diary, written by Frank as she and her family hid from the Nazis, was published after her death in a concentration camp at age 15. It has been widely read in Japan, as in many other countries, and is one of the best-known testimonies about the Holocaust. |