On 16 June 2025, a solemn event at the United Nations Headquarters brought together Permanent Representatives, delegates and United Nations staff to remember the life and legacy of Anne Frank.
The event took place in front of the Anne Frank tree in the United Nations Garden. The tree was a sapling grown from the original horse chestnut tree outside the Secret Annex where Anne and her family hid. One of Anne’s rare connections to the outside world during her years in hiding, the tree is now a living symbol of hope and resilience of the human spirit even in the darkest times.
Ms. Melissa Fleming, Under-Secretary-General for Global Communications, delivered welcoming remarks and invited all to a moment of quiet reflection and remembrance. Her Excellency, Mrs. Bahia Tahzib-Lie, Deputy Permanent Representative of the Kingdom of the Netherlands to the United Nations and His Excellency Mr. Brett Jonathan Miller, Deputy Permanent Representative of Israel to the United Nations, shared reflections on Anne’s legacy and emphasized the importance of learning from the past for combating antisemitism and all forms of hatred in today’s world.
“Let us remember our responsibility to the memory of Anne Frank, and the over a million children who, like Anne, victims of antisemitism, killed because they were Jewish. Let us remember the countless other children maimed and murdered in the name of racism,” concluded Under-Secretary-General Fleming in her closing remarks, with a reminder for all to counter the misuse of words to incite acts of hatred and to build a world in which children today and tomorrow live in peace, free and able to fulfill their dreams and potential.
In tribute to Anne Frank and the 1.5 million children who were murdered during the Holocaust, 8 young people read the diary entry that 15-year-old Anne wrote in her Diary while in hiding, weeks before the family was betrayed and arrested.