Anne Frank Atheneum Denderleeuw

Since 1 September 2024, the Atheneum in Denderleeuw has been called "Anne Frank Atheneum".
On Saturday 1 February 2025, a statue of Anne Frank was inaugurated in the school, the first in Belgium. It was designed and executed by the Dutch artist Wil van der Laan. The bronze statue has a central place in the entrance hall of the school.

During the Second World War, Anne and her family had to go into hiding from the Nazis. During that time, she wrote her world-famous diary in the Secret Annex in Amsterdam. After two years, the family was discovered and taken to a concentration camp. Anne, her sister Margot and their mother did not survive. Only her father Otto survived the war and found her diary.

The story of Anne Frank is universal and enjoys worldwide recognition. It is a powerful reminder of the consequences of prejudice, discrimination and exclusion, even today. It is a lasting testimony of resistance to intolerance, but it is also an example of personal resilience, tolerance and the hope that young people can have.

With the name change, the Denderleeuw Atheneum is part of a network of Anne Frank schools all over the world. In this way, they want to anchor her legacy in education.
Following the name change, the school wrote a new mission. It states, among other things, that they want to encourage students to explore their world, develop critical thinking skills and pursue their academic, professional and personal goals, but also to become responsible and involved citizens who have a positive impact on society. Much importance is attached to fundamental values such as respect, equality and social involvement.

The school attaches great importance to citizenship and for several years now has awarded the Anne Frank Prize to one of the final year students who has behaved meritoriously during the school year.
In addition to the bronze statue, the Atheneum also has other documents, photos, literature and statues of Anne Frank. There is also a unique copy of "Het Achterhuis" in Braille. In the hall lies a copy of the Grote Namenboek (Great Book of Names) which contains the names of the 102,000 Jews, Sinti and Roma who were deported and murdered in Camp Westerbork during the German occupation.
The school also periodically organizes exhibitions about Anne Frank.
(Source: director Peter Van Hove and website of the school)

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Source

• Text: TracesOfWar
• Photos: Marie-Christine Vinck