250 Anne Frank books vandalized in Tokyo libraries

Damaged books at 31 municipal libraries were possibly found using keywords ‘Anne Frank’ in online databases

By AP 21 February 2014, 1:18 pm

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Ripped copies of Anne Frank's 'Diary of a Young Girl' and related books are shown at Shinjuku City Library in Tokyo, on Friday, February 21, 2014. (AP/Koji Ueda)

TOKYO — Anne Frank’s “The Diary of a Young Girl” and scores of books about the young Holocaust victim have been vandalized in Tokyo public libraries.

Dozens of pages were ripped in the books. The libraries have counted 265 damaged books at 31 municipal libraries since the end of January. An official at one library said all the books could have been found using the keywords “Anne Frank” in an online database.

The motive is unclear. Police are investigating.

At least one library moved Anne Frank-related books behind the counter for protection.

Anne Frank wrote the diary while hiding from the Nazis. After her family was betrayed, she died in a concentration camp at age 15. Her diary has become the most widely read document to emerge from the Holocaust.