Anne Frank

A Spanish musical based on the diary of Anne Frank is scheduled to open in Madrid on Feb. 28, but at least one person is not pleased: the late Ms. Frank’s 82-year-old cousin, Buddy Elias, the New York Times reports via Agence France-Presse. Mr. Elias, who is Ms. Frank’s last living relative, said his Swiss-based charitable organization, which holds the rights to The Diary of a Young Girl, was against the production because "The Holocaust is not a theme to be made into a musical,” but that his “foundation had no recourse against the musical since it does not quote directly from the diary." The director of The Diary of Anne Frank: A Song to Life, Rafael Alvero, maintains the musical is "very faithful" to Ms. Frank’s famous Holocaust text, and that he has the support of the Anne Frank Foundation. "I do not think we have trivialized the story in any way," he said.

If this tree falls, everyone is going to hear it. The 150-year-old horse-chestnut tree in the city center of Amsterdam described in Anne Frank's The Diary of a Young Girl is diseased and was in danger of being cut down. It has been losing a battle with fungus and a moth infestation and only a quarter of it is surviving. The Amsterdam city council declared that the tree had to be cut down on last week, but a court recently ruled against that decision and saved the tree from the chop.  read more »