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Fate of Anne Frank's Chestnut Tree in Doubt
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The chestnut tree in the backyard of the house in Amsterdam where Anne Frank and her family hid during World War II, seen on Nov. 16, 2007.
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Evert Elzinga / AFP/Getty Images
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The hundred-plus-year-old chestnut tree that stands just outside of the Amsterdam building where Anne Frank once lived has been granted a reprieve; it had been slated to be cut down Wednesday morning. But now there are new questions about its fate.
Frank often wrote of the tree in the diary she kept while hiding from the Nazis; she lived in a nearby building until 1944.
The Anne Frank museum's plan to remove the diseased tree for safety reasons met with staunch resistance from conservationists and Frank's fans. Amsterdam's Tree Foundation viewed the plan as an undeserving fate for a tree that the city's most famous victim of the Holocaust had been so fond of.
The foundation went to court against the city, and in defense of the tree. A judge granted a reprieve from the ax until at least Feb. 1. But now a new question has arisen, over who is responsible for any damage the tree might incur on the surrounding area if it begins to fall apart.
The Dutch Association of Insurers has now been asked to step into the debate. Willem Terisscha, secretary to the association's board, talks with Robert Siegel.
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