Saplings from the chestnut tree that stood as a symbol of hope for Anne Frank as she hid from the Nazis for two years in Amsterdam are being distributed to 11 locations in the United States as part of a project that aims to preserve her legacy and promote tolerance. The tree, one of the Jewish teenager's only connections to nature while in the Secret Annex, was diseased and rotted through the trunk when wind and heavy rain toppled it in August 2010. But saplings grown from its seeds will be planted starting in April, when the Children's Museum of Indianapolis will put the first one in the ground.
The 11 US locations—which also include a NYC park memorializing 9/11 victims, an Arkansas high school that was the heart of the desegregation battle, and Holocaust centers in Michigan and Washington state—were chosen by The Anne Frank Center USA from 34 applicants. Among Anne's many references to the tree is this passage from Feb. 23, 1944:
- "Nearly every morning I go to the attic to blow the stuffy air out of my lungs. From my favorite spot on the floor I look up at the blue sky and the bare chestnut tree, on whose branches little raindrops shine, appearing like silver, and at the seagulls and other birds as they glide on the wind."
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