Their inclusion in the list underlines the importance and the message of Anne Frank’s manuscripts. They are made up of her first diary, with its red and green checked cover, the second and third versions of her diary and the several hundred loose sheets on which she rewrote the diary from May 1944, as well as her ‘Tales Book’ and ‘Favourite Quotes Notebook’.
With the Memory of the World Register UNESCO aims to contribute to the preservation of precious documents from archives and collections, including libraries, throughout the world. UNESCO’s Memory of the World programme promotes the importance of documentary heritage, and assists in conserving and providing public access to such documents.
The inclusion of Anne Frank’s manuscripts in the World Heritage List neatly coincides with the finalisation of an agreement between the Netherlands Institute for War Documentation (NIOD), the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences and the Anne Frank House, under which the NIOD will give all the writings of Anne Frank to the Anne Frank House on permanent loan. All the parties involved, including the Dutch Minister of Education, Culture and Science Ronald Plasterk, signed this agreement on 11 June 2009, on the eve of the 80th anniversary of Anne Frank’s birth.
From 1 November 2009, all the original writings of Anne Frank will be on public display in a newly designed exhibition hall in the Anne Frank House.