Dutch kitsch crockery company Blond Amsterdam has said it will withdraw bowls featuring a rosy cheeked, smiling Anne Frank alongside the text ‘Hollands Glorie’, ice skates and hagelslag, following protests from Jewish groups.

The cups were for sale via the company’s website and some Albert Heijn stores and were part of a kitchenware collection featuring typically Dutch things, including windmills, pea soup and drop.

‘We were astonished,’ said Aron Vrieler, of the Israel information centre Cidi. ‘This is an extremely inappropriate choice.’ The Anne Frank Stichting also said the product showed ‘little historical awareness and empathy.’

Blond Amsterdam said later in a written statement that it was withdrawing the bowls from its collection and pledged to donate the money that had been raised. The aim had been to give people ‘positive memories of Dutch dining and the heroes we are proud of’ but ‘unfortunately, not everyone sees it as we had hoped.’

The company described the criticism as ‘troublesome and shocking’ but did not say what charity would receive the donation.

The cups were also criticised on Twitter, with commentators pointing out that a smiling Anne Frank was hardly a symbol of Hollands Glorie, given the fact she and her family were betrayed, deported and died in a concentration camp.

And as Maartje Jansma pointed out, the Franks were actually denied Dutch citizenship when they applied for it.

Anne Frank op kitscherig servies van Blond Amsterdam, het is echt waar 😦
Fun fact: de familie Frank vroeg in 1939 het Nederlands staatsburgerschap aan maar kreeg het niet #MetJeHollandsGlorie pic.twitter.com/ZJjaoWtSTC

— Maartje Jansma 🎧 (@maartjejan) December 5, 2022

This is not the first time Blond Amsterdam has come under fire. In 2017 the company was lambasted for a cartoon featuring a blonde woman holding a ballot paper and a red pencil saying ‘Of course I am going to vote, I like colouring in.’