Following the major controversy regarding the renaming decision of the Anne Frank kindergarten, the institution has decided to halt the process for the time being.
As we reported earlier this week, a German kindergarten came under fire after changing its name from ‘Anne Frank’ to ‘World Explorer’ during the tensions in the Middle East. Although the institution has been planning to change its name for over a year, the decision came at a very unfortunate time.
According to the announcement of Mayor Andreas Brohm, the daycare centre in Tangerhütte, Saxony-Anhalt, will not be getting a new name for the time being. At the same time, the city council chairman, Werner Jacob (CDU), announced in the newspaper „Welt” that the city council factions would altogether reject a renaming.
„On Wednesday, the city council will unanimously take a stand against the request to rename the daycare centre,” said Jacob. Behind the project was political naivety and a lack of history. According to the city administration, parents and employees of the daycare were pressing the issue of changing the institution’s name.
The initiative drew widespread criticism, including from the vice president of the International Auschwitz Committee, Christoph Heubner, who criticised the project in an open letter on Sunday. „If one is willing to dismiss one’s own history so carelessly, especially in times of new antisemitism and right-wing extremism, one can only become fearful and anxious when it comes to the culture of remembrance”, he wrote.
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