Plan a Visit to Our Anne Frank Remembering Tree
By Elaine Meyers
June 12th I had the pleasure of celebrating Anne Frank’s birthday with kindergarten through fifth grade classes at Emily Howland Elementary School. We celebrated by reading the picture book “Anne Frank and the Remembering Tree” written in 2015 by Sandy Eisenberg Sasso and illustrated by Erika Steiskal.
Before reading, I told the children that they would need to help me with the story—a story told by a tree. “I need you to speak with our tree when it says, ‘But I was just a tree’. I also need you to remember the city of Amsterdam, the horse chestnut tree, the Nazi soldiers, the Secret Annex, Anne’s diary, and the number of trees planted in the United States—eleven.”
All students nodded and repeated the tree’s lament as well as key facts in the book. In the book, the tree provides a most eloquent telling of Anne and her family ending with the words, “I was just one tree, but now I am many. People planted my saplings in places around the world as reminders of what happened to Anne and Margot and what hatred can do. They planted them so that everywhere adults and children will recall the hope and promise of two young girls who love a tree and the tree who remembered them.”
Carin Kopp also read the book to kindergarten, first, second and third grade classes. She observed, “It seems to me when first graders have a sense of what the word Nazi means and an understanding of the Nazi’s hatred of Jews and the sad and horrible consequences of hatred—we are making extraordinary progress. I was surprised at how many kids had an understanding of the Holocaust tragedy.”
Carin has just joined the board of the Southern Cayuga Anne Frank Tree Project. Our mission is to educate and empower children so that they recognize their abilities as individuals to use their thoughts, words, and deeds to cultivate and promote understanding, equity, and justice within our community and in our society as a whole. To this end, the Anne Frank tree will serve as a tangible symbol and a reminder of the impact each human being can have in creating positive change, in improving the quality of life for all members of our community and society, and in inspiring others. Carin shares our motivation to expand the experience of our tree with other schools and the public at large. We agree that the world would be safer if the lessons of hatred’s impact could be shared with all in our world.
As our students can tell you, the Southern Cayuga Anne Frank Tree is one of eleven trees in this country. The Southern Cayuga School District’s elementary school is named after Miss Emily Howland, who not only worked side by side with Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony but also founded many schools for freed blacks and their children in the South. The site was designed by Phil Donovan, is layered with references and imagery. The hexagonal shape is the internal shape of the Star of David. The site is surrounded by eleven boulders, representing the number of Anne Frank trees given to US locations. Four of these boulders are of the same type of stone and reference Marion Blumenthal Lazan’s metaphor of four perfect pebbles used in her book of the same name. Four is also the number of members in Anne’s family and the number of people who helped those hiding in the annex.
The Anne Frank Tree Project wants you and yours to visit our tree. You can prepare for your visit by reading Anne Frank and the Remembering Tree, visiting Anne’s Diary and checking out our website. Visitors are welcome to come often, reflect on the site, and see what else may be revealed. The site’s physical address is 2384 Route 34B Aurora, NY 13026. Visitors should circle around the main parking lot to the back of the school. The tree site is located just past the playground area. Access directions here: https://sccsannefranktree.org/our-site/.
In closing, I would like to invite you to a special Anne Frank story session and tour on Friday, August 2 at 10 a.m. We will meet at the Northville Arts Center, 999 New York-34B in King Ferry for our story session with Elaine Meyers. Snacks will be available for purchase. At 11, Elaine will drive with attendees to the Anne Frank Tree Site at Southern Cayuga Central School for a tour of the site. The program is free, but registration would be appreciated. See the website for program information and registration.