Eleven saplings cultivated from the Anne Frank tree which blew down in 2010 are to be planted at various locations in America as symbols of tolerance and hope.

The chestnut tree was written about by Anne in her World War II diaries as she hid in an Amsterdam attic.

‘From my favourite spot on the floor I look up at the blue sky and the bare chestnut tree, on whose branches little raindrops shine, appearing like silver, and at the sea gulls and other birds as they glide on the wind…I firmly believe that nature brings solace in all troubles,’ Anne wrote.

Cuttings

The cuttings were taken from the tree in 2009 and kept in quarantine in the US for three years, in line with customs regulations. Thirty-four organisations applied to have one of the trees.

‘We chose the eleven sites because of their importance in American history and their commitment to continuing education about tolerance,’ Yvonne Simon, director of the Anne Frank Center in New York said in a press release.

‘The participating organisations expressed a strong understanding of and a desire to combat the horrible consequences of intolerance, racism, hatred and discrimination that destroy countries, communities and innocents like Anne Frank,’ the statement said.

Schools

The Central High School in Little Rock plans to plant its sapling in September, on the 56th anniversary of the day on which a group of black students called the Little Rock Nine braved angry mobs to attend the previously-segregated school.

One will also be planted in Liberty Park, being created in New York to commemorate the victims of the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

The tree was set to be chopped down in 2007 but was saved by an international outcry. In 2008 it was propped up by a steel structure costing €50,000 but blew down two years later.