DutchNews.nl - DutchNews.nl brings daily news from The Netherlands in English

10 May 2025
Newsletter Donate Advertise
  • News
  • Life in the Netherlands
  • Jobs
  • Podcast
  • About us
  • Search
  • Home
  • Economy
  • Art and culture
  • Sport
  • Europe
  • Society
  • Environment
  • Health
  • Housing
  • Education
  • News
    • Home
    • Economy
    • Art and culture
    • Sport
    • Europe
    • Society
    • Environment
    • Health
    • Housing
    • Education
  • Life in the Netherlands
    • Latest
    • Opinion
    • Books
    • Travel
    • 10 Questions
    • Learning Dutch
    • Inburgering with DN
    • Food & Drink
    • Ask us anything
  • Jobs
  • Podcast
  • About us
    • Team
    • Donate
    • Advertise
    • Writing for Dutch News
    • Contact us
    • Privacy
    • Newsletter
  • Search

FBI cold case expert aims to solve Anne Frank betrayal mystery

October 1, 2017
Anne Frank at school in 1940. Photo: Collectie Anne Frank Stichting Amsterdam via Wikimedia Commons

A retired FBI agent and a team of mainly Dutch experts have launched an investigation to find out who betrayed Anne Frank and her family during World War II.

Vince Pankoke says he is using the knowledge and expertise in cold case inquiries which were only developed in the last decade in an effort to find out how the Nazis came to find the Frank family in their hiding place on Amsterdam’s Prinsengracht.

‘Until now, most investigation was done by writers, journalists and/or historians, but never by a team of forensic investigators using cold case techniques and supported by artificial intelligence,’ the investigation website states.

Pankoke, 59, told the Volkskrant in an interview he had been inspired to solve the mystery after being told about it by a Dutch police officer during an operation in the Netherlands several years ago.

Having retired last year, he has now decided to make a go of the case. He has already turned up new information, he told the paper.

‘This year I found a list of Amsterdam Gestapo informants in an archive in Washington,’ he said. Pankoke also hopes the use of big data will produce new lines of enquiry. ‘There are archives all over the world,’ he said. ‘And all that information from old investigations has never been combined into one.’

Even if the project, which he hopes to complete by the 75th anniversary of Anne and her family’s discovery, does not produce an answer ‘it will deliver new stories and insights,’ Pankoke told the Volkskrant.

Theories

There have been many theories about who betrayed Anne Frank and the seven others in hiding in August 1944.

The Anne Frank museum said at the end of last year the family may have been found by chance and that there is no conclusive evidence the they were betrayed.

That claim was based on new research which looked at why the Prinsengracht office was raided in the first place. It suggests illegal employment and ration-coupon fraud played a role in the raid and may have led to the discovery and arrest of Anne Frank.

In 2015, a biography of Bep Voskuijl, one of the Frank family’s helpers while they were living in the secret annex in Amsterdam, suggests her sister, who was a collaborator,  may have told the Germans about their hiding place.

Anne Frank died of typhoid in the notorious Bergen-Belsen concentration camp in February or March 1945.

Share this article
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • Reddit
  • Copy URL
Society
Thank you for donating to DutchNews.nl.

We could not provide the Dutch News service, and keep it free of charge, without the generous support of our readers. Your donations allow us to report on issues you tell us matter, and provide you with a summary of the most important Dutch news each day.

Make a donation
Latest
Show more
Not a holiday camp: Faber plans to stop all outings for refugees
Major chaos awaits on Dutch motorways from this weekend
New pope Leo XIV is seen as socially engaged bridge-builder
Police bust record number of drugs labs, many in urban areas
National library in The Hague robbed of 6 rare Russian books
NewsHomeEconomyArt and cultureSportEuropeSocietyEnvironmentHealthHousingEducation
Life in the NetherlandsLatestOpinionBooksTravel10 QuestionsLearning DutchInburgering with DNFood & DrinkAsk us anything
About usTeamDonateAdvertiseWriting for Dutch NewsContact usPrivacyNewsletter
© 2025 DutchNews | Cookie settings

Help us to keep providing you information about coronavirus in the Netherlands.

Many thanks to everyone who has donated to DutchNews.nl in recent days!

We could not provide this service without you. If you have not yet made a contribution, you can do so here.

The DutchNews.nl team

Donate now

Dutchnews Survey

Please help us making DutchNews.nl a better read by taking part in a short survey.

Take part now