‘Disgusting’ act on books at Boise’s Anne Frank Memorial called a ‘slap in the face’
Boise resident Barb Heller said she was showing her friend the Anne Frank Human Rights Memorial on Wednesday afternoon when she noticed something disturbing.
Someone had taken some books from the memorial’s mini-outdoor library and defecated on them.
In an email to the Idaho Statesman, Heller said she felt strongly the public needed to know about the “disgusting incident.”
“I just love the Anne Frank Memorial, and when people come to town that haven’t visited, I take them over there,” Heller told the Statesman in a phone interview.
Disturbing incidents at the Anne Frank Memorial are sadly not new, and they often have involved antisemitism. Dan Prinzing, executive director of the Wassmuth Center for Human Rights, told the Statesman this incident was minor compared to the racist and antisemitic tagging that has occurred in the past.
“When it comes to any major acts of antisemitism or racism, that’s where we’re strong partners with the Boise Police Department,” he said. “The place is regularly patrolled and has back cameras. When there are hate crimes, that’s when we begin to take steps to prosecute someone.”
Prinzing said he didn’t think this act rose to that level, instead labeling it a crude public act. He said the corner near the mini-outdoor library is not in camera view, but the organization has plans to add another camera with the construction of its new center, the Philip E. Batt Building.
The Wassmuth Center for Human Rights, an educational center based in Boise, built the memorial in 2002. According to the memorial’s website, it is one of the few places in the world where the Universal Declaration of Human Rights is on permanent, public display.
Kathy Wells, Heller’s friend who was visiting from Idaho Falls, called the incident inexcusable. She said she believed it could have been a message related to recent book-banning efforts throughout Idaho.
Before the two women could report the incident to authorities, Heller said a third woman saw what had happened and decided to clean it up.
“She wanted to clean it because she also feels the reverence of, you know, a memorial,” Heller said.
Heller told the Statesman that the memorial is one of her favorite spots in the city because she feels a special connection to it.
Heller said her father was a World War II veteran who served in Germany, and her mother met her father there while he arrested Nazi soldiers.
Heller was born in Switzerland and has lived in Paris, Illinois and Texas. She said she first moved to Idaho in 1976, and then went back and forth between different states, before finally settling in Idaho with plans to retire alongside her husband.
“Seeing this was a real slap in the face,” Heller said. “It’s just one of those places I’ve just loved and I’ve never thought of anybody doing anything even close to that.”
This story was originally published September 29, 2022 at 6:35 PM.
