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Cover Story

Grades 4-6

Hope for a Giving Tree

Suzanne Friedman

For months, city leaders in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, have been meeting to discuss the fate of a tree. Half of the 150-year-old chestnut's trunk has been rotted by fungi. Moths are chipping away at its branches and leaves. Some people were worried that the old tree might collapse, and wanted it chopped down.

But this chestnut is anything but ordinary. It is the same tree that brought joy to a young Jewish girl named Anne Frank. Anne often wrote about the tree in her diary. She and her family lived in a secret section of a building near the tree. During World War II, the Franks were hiding from the Nazis, a German political party that tried to wipe out Jewish people. The Nazi campaign is called the Holocaust.

For more than 25 months, Anne's only view outside was through a small attic window. She watched the tree as the seasons changed. In May of 1944, Anne wrote, "Our chestnut tree is in full bloom. It is covered with leaves and even more beautiful than last year."

The Diary of Anne Frank has been translated into more than 65 languages. Anne's words of hope have reached millions of readers. When news spread that Anne's tree was going to be cut down, people around the world wrote letters to try to save the tree. Their efforts worked.

Henric Pomes, the owner of the property where the tree stands, has agreed to delay cutting it down at least until January. Experts at the Dutch Tree Foundation are working to save it. Annemiek van Loon, a specialist with the organization, told TFK that they will focus on stabilizing the branches and trunk. "People from all over the world feel connected with the tree," she says. "We can only do our very best to save the tree as long as possible."

Next: Tough Lessons