Marking lives tragically cut short at event

TREE BLOSSOM WAS REMOVED IN MEMORY OF ANNE FRANK

- By JOSEPH RICHARDS [e-mail]

A SPECIAL event saw young people gather at the National Memorial Arboretum to remember Anne Frank.

Children from Home Ed-Venturers, an events group offering educational activities for home educated children and their families, led the annual blossom cutting ceremony in the Garden of the Innocents.

Every year, the blossom is removed from the central Elder tree planted in Anne Frank’s memory to ensure that it never bears fruit, just as Anne was prevented from reaching maturity.

The event was held 80 years after Anne’s death in the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp, on what would have been her 96th birthday.

“Every year we welcome tens of thousands of young people to the Arboretum, helping us to pass the baton of Remembrance to the next generation,” said Rachel Smith, Head of Learning and Participation.