Anne Frank's Closest Living Relative Visits Westside

Anne Frank would be proud of a new exhibit at the Museum of Tolerance for helping spread her message of peace, a cousin of Jewish diarist said today.

Bernd "Buddy" Elias, Frank's closest living relative, traveled from Basel, Switzerland, to attend the Simon Wiesenthal Center and Museum of Tolerance's annual Holocaust Remembrance Day Commemoration.

"She would be (proud)," he said. "I have no words for it. She would be so proud, and so happy and so hopeful that her message for peace between all mankind is so much taken forward here in this museum."

The exhibit, "ANNE: The Life and Legacy of Anne Frank," features a reproduction of her diary and other examples of her writing, according to the museum's website.

The exhibit also highlights little known facts about her time in hiding and the events that led up to her arrest in 1944.

Elias said the Holocaust shattered the entire world, echoing across the globe.

"You must never forget that this happened," said Elias, who is included in the exhibit.

The program as part of the Holocaust Remembrance Day Commemoration also featured Israeli Consul General David Siegel recognizing Emilia Krutova, who hid 12 Jews in her upstairs bedroom for the duration of WWII. There was also a performance by the Jewish Community Children's Choir with Cantor Marcus Feldman.

Frank, a German who wrote of her ordeal while in hiding with her family in Amsterdam, was eventually seized by the Nazis and taken to a concentration camp, where she eventually died.

The Museum of Tolerance is at 9786 W. Pico Blvd.

--City News Service