How Anne Frank's wartime hiding place was nearly torn down because it 'wasn't historically important'

The most famous shrine to Holocaust suffering in the world – the attic where Anne Frank hid with her family in Amsterdam – was nearly torn down by the Dutch government after WW2 because it was 'not an historical monument'.

Now the house is visited by millions each year and the foundation that supports it has become central to rebutting the lies of Holocaust deniers wherever they are.

Anne Frank hid with her family in the Amsterdam apartment from 1942 to 1944. Betrayed, the family were carted off to concentration camps where all died except her father.

He returned in 1945 to find Anne’s poignant diary among the few possessions the Nazis left behind. Her book has been published in dozens of languages and has sold over 100 million copies.

Now a letter released in Holland show that the Dutch government in the 1950s had no objections to tearing down the house where the diary was written.