Archaeologists suspect they’ve found Anne Frank’s pendant after excavating infamous Nazi death camp

A decades-old pendant with potential ties to Anne Frank has been found on the grounds of a former Nazi death camp.

Israel’s Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial society say they are looking for the family of a girl who died at Sobibór extermination camp who is the likely owner of a unique pendant that suggests a connection with Anne Frank.

Archaeologists found various items, including jewelry and watches which have been buried for more than 70 years.

Yad Vashem says it has ascertained the pendant belonged to Karoline Cohn—a Jewish girl who perished at Sobibor and may have been connected to the famous diarist. Both were born in Frankfurt in 1929, and historians have found no other pendants like theirs. The triangular piece found has the words “Mazal Tov” written in Hebrew on one side along with Karoline’s date of birth. The other side has the Hebrew letter “heh,” an initial for God, as well as three Stars of David. Researchers are trying to reach out to remaining relatives of the two to confirm whether they were related, reports the AP.

Since 2007, the Israel Antiquities Authority, together with Yad Vashem, has been conducting excavations at the former camp in Poland in a novel approach to Holocaust research. The pendant was found along with numerous other personal effects in the area of the destroyed camp where victims were forced to undress before being sent along the “road to Heaven,” the Times of Israel reports, or the path to the gas chambers. It’s believed the pendant fell through the floorboards.

Anne died at the Bergen-Belsen camp, in northern Germany, in 1945. “This pendant demonstrates once again the importance of archaeological research of former Nazi death camp sites,” an Israel Antiquities Authority archaeologist tells the Times. “The moving story of Karoline Cohn is symbolic of the shared fate of the Jews murdered in the camp. It is important to tell the story, so that we never forget.”

Agencies/Canadajournal

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