Art: Anne Frank
Statue of Anne Frank, unveiled in 1995 in the town hall. Her hands are shackled; she represents all victims of the Holocaust.
A statue of Anne Frank, unveiled in 1995 at the town hall. Her hands are bound; she symbolises all the victims of the Holocaust. On 5 May 1995, this statue (then still in wax) was unveiled in the lobby of the town hall. The theatre group ‘Het Achterhuis’ had commissioned the artist Joep Coppens to design something related to Anne Frank. Although he was free to create an abstract sculpture, he nevertheless chose to create a figurative bronze statue of the girl Anne Frank. This was because her short life is of great significance in the history of the Second World War.
The genocide that took place at that time, of which Anne was also a victim (she died of typhus in a concentration camp). Her hands are bound; in this way, she represents all those who were imprisoned and deported by the Nazi regime during this cruel war, robbed of their freedom, of everything that was dear to them, and even robbed of their lives.