Anne Frank books defaced in ‘hate campaign’

Japanese police are investigating after dozens of copies of Anne Frank’s The Diary of a Young Girl and scores of books about the young Holocaust victim were vandalised in Tokyo public libraries.

The damage was mostly in the form of dozens of ripped pages in the books. Librarians have counted at least 265 damaged books at 31 municipal libraries since the end of January.

Japan and Nazi Germany were allies in the Second World War, and though Holocaust denial has occurred in Japan at times, the motive for damaging the Anne Frank books is unclear. Police are investigating.