"I doubt whether Assad read Anne Frank’s diary, when he didn’t hesitate to use chemical weapons to murder innocent women and children", said Israeli President Shimon Peres on Sunday at the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam as he started his official visit to the Netherlands, referring to the chemical attack of Syrian forces that killed up to 1400 civilians last month.
“It serves as a warning to us all against a tyrant who uses chemical weapons to murder children and against attempts to develop nuclear weapons for mass destruction", Peres underlined and expressed that what is happening in Syria cannot be ignored.
Israeli President pointed out Anne Frank's voice as "a warning that stands before us today".
During his visit to the house where Anne Frank hid from the Nazis, the Israeli president was shown photos gathered by her while concealing in the attic for two years, together with original pages from her diary and letters sent by Otto Frank in 1945 after father of Anne was released from Auschwitz.
He was the only survival of the family that was betrayed and sent to the concentration camps. The letters that he has sent show that even in the final days of the war Frank continued to do everything he could to protect his family and to believe that they will survive despite the tragic situation.
The letters are part of a collection given to Anne Frank's house by the American actor, Joseph Schildkraut.
Concluding his visit to the Anne Frank House , Peres declared : "Anne, your voice which rings in our ears today, will forever remind the Jewish people and the world of the victory of light over darkness."
Anne Frank died aged 15 of typhus in Bergen-Belsen. Her diary praised for its literary merits by many critics, was published due to the efforts of Otto in 1947 and become identified worldwide as a single representative of the millions of people who suffered and died as she did.
President Shimon Peres' official state visit to the Netherlands will last three days.
On Monday, the Nobel Peace Prize Laureate will pay a visit to the Peace Palace in The Hague to meet the President of the International Court of Justice (ICJ), Peter Tomka.
On Tuesday the Israeli President will be welcomed by King Willem-Alexander at the Noordeinde Palace before an appointment with Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte and a speech to the members of the Upper and Lower House of the Dutch Parliament in the plenary hall.