A bakery in Amsterdam has been forced to change its name after an outcry over the connection to Anne Frank, the Jewish teenager that hid from the Nazis with her family.
The bakery — which was called "Anne & Frank" — attracted criticism on Twitter, with users calling for the “tasteless” name to be changed.
Its owner, named in Dutch media only as Roberto, initially said that “it seemed like a nice name to me”. He described Anne Frank, who died of typhus in Bergen-Belsen concentration camp, as “a hero for me too”.
But Drukke Toestand, who comments on news from the Dutch capital, said in a tweet that "even if the owners had been called Anne and Frank it would still be shocking".
Elke vorm van schaamte en fatsoen voorbij. Een bakkerij om de hoek van het @annefrankhuis om toeristen te trekken. Zelfs al heten de eigenaars Anne en Frank dan is het nog stuitend. @AnneFrankCenter pic.twitter.com/zjLEFp7thZ
— Drukke Toestand (@DrukkeToestand) August 25, 2018
The owner later told Dutch media he would change the name: "I'll have a good think about it. It wasn't my intention to offend anyone."
The Anne Frank House, close to the bakery, is a major attraction for tourists to the city. It tells the story of the Franks’ time in hiding before they were discovered by the Nazis.
Anne Frank, who died in February or March 1945, not long before the British Army liberated the camp, kept a diary whilst in hiding, which later became a global bestseller.
Her father, Otto Frank, was the sole member of his family to survive the Holocaust.
