Two weeks ago we reported about the publication of a new book, The Betrayal of Anne Frank: A Cold Case Investigation (Harper Collins, 2022), where the Canadian researcher Rosemary Sullivan reveals who sold out Anne Frank and seven other Jewish people who were hiding with her in the back of a factory in Amsterdam during World War II. 

Based on years of investigation by the FBI and the Dutch police, the author revealed exclusively that the informant was a Jewish notary from Amsterdam, Arnold van den Berg, a member of the Jewish Council, who told the Nazis where the Frank family was hiding to prevent his family from being sent to an extermination camp.

The book, with a Spanish version scheduled to go on sale on Feb. 9, is facing a setback, after Dutch publisher Ambo Anthos decided on Tuesday, Feb. 1 to stop reprinting copies after the rain of criticism it has received since its arrival in bookstores, on Jan. 17.

Numerous experts around the world believe that the evidence gathered by former FBI agent Vince Pankoke, the leader of the most recent investigation, is insufficient to conclude that Van den Berg was Frank's betrayer. The publisher also issued its "apologies to anyone who may have been offended," the Dutch press reported.

"We are awaiting the investigators' answers to the questions that have arisen and are delaying the decision to print another print run," it said.

"We offer our sincerest apologies to anyone who may be offended by the book."

Teenager Anne Frank and seven other Jews remained hidden in a secret annex above an Amsterdam warehouse before being discovered by the Nazis in August 1944. All were deported and murdered in a concentration camp. Their tragic story is known worldwide thanks to Anne's diary, which was first published in 1947 and translated into 70 languages.