The Betrayal of Anne Frank: A Cold Case Investigation(89)
Project manager
Soeliah Hellwig
Gender researcher
Robbert van Hintum
Data scientist
Christine Hoste
Public historian
Nina Kaiser
Documentalist
Linda Leestemaker
Archaeologist, journalist
Bram van der Meer
Investigative psychologist
Lilian Oskam
Criminologist
Welmoed Pluim
Criminologist
Marin Rappard
Heritage researcher
Isis de Ruiter
Documentalist
Cerianne Slagmolen
Historian
Patricia Spronk
Gender researcher
Rinsophie Vellinga
External researcher
Machteld van Voskuilen
Social historian
CONSULTANTS TO THE TEAM
Gerard Aalders
Historian and author
Frans Alkemade
Expert in Bayesian analysis at Alkemade Forensic Reasoning (AFR)
Hubert Berkhout
Archivist
Gertjan Broek
Historian at the Anne Frank House
Roger Depue
Behavioral scientist/profiler (retired from the FBI Behavioral Science Unit)
Wil Fagel
Forensic handwriting examiner
Corien Glaudemans
Historian and researcher at the Haags Gemeentearchief
Bernhard Haas
Forensic document examiner
Eric Heijselaar
Archivist at Stadsarchief Amsterdam
Peter Kroesen
Archivist at Stadsarchief Amsterdam
Carina van Leeuwen
Forensic cold case detective
Guus Meershoek
Historian
Quentin Plant
Data scientist
Sierk Plantinga
Archivist
Leo Simais
Police adviser
Eric Slot
Historian, author, and journalist
Hans Smit
Police adviser
Erik Somers
Historian at NIOD
Gerrold van der Stroom
Historian
Sytze van der Zee
Journalist and author
Acknowledgments
From idea to conclusion, the investigation into what led to the raid on the Annex took well over five years and was aided by two hundred people. While we focused our attention in the book on the leaders and other senior members of the team, there are many more without whom this research would not have been possible. First and foremost, we wish to thank the day-to-day research team that consisted of our regular researchers, Christine Hoste, Circe de Bruin, and Anna Foulidis. They in turn were supported by a team of freelancers, volunteers, and interns: Joachim Bayens, Veerle de Boer, José Boon, Amber Dekker, Rory Dekker, Matthijs de Die le Clercq, Nienke Filius, Anna Helfrich, Soeliah Hellwig, Gülden Ilmaz, Nina Kaiser, Eline Kemps, Linda Leestemaker, Patrick Minks, Lilian Oskam, Welmoed Pluim, Marin Rappard, Anita Rosmolen, Isis de Ruiter, Dorna Saadati, Cerianne Slagmolen, Babette Smits van Warsberghe, Patricia Spronk, Logan Taylor-Black, Mattie Timmer, Maudy Tjho, Rinsophie Vellinga, Marlinde Venema, Machteld van Voskuilen, and Mary Beth Warner.
We are also deeply indebted to many specialists who endorsed our investigation and who assisted us frequently in their areas of expertise. We called them our subject matter experts, or SMEs. They are Roger Depue (retired FBI behavioral science specialist); Bram van der Meer (investigative psychologist and offender-profiling expert); Frans Alkemade (forensic statistician); Bernhard Haas (forensic document examiner); Wil Fagel (former NFI handwriting expert); Carina van Leeuwen (head of police cold case team Amsterdam); Menachem Sebbag (chief rabbi at the Dutch Ministry of Defense); Leo Simais (cold case team, Dutch National Police), and Hans Smit (Dutch National Police). We wish to thank the archivists who aided us: Peter Kroesen and Eric Heijselaar (archivists, SAA), Hubert Berkhout (archivist, NIOD), and Sierk Plantinga (retired archivist, NA). As laymen in the field of digital storage and AI, we also owe gratitude to our digital consultant Quentin Plant. Last, we thank the following authors and historians who were so important to us: Gerard Aalders (historian), David Barnouw (historian), Gertjan Broek (researcher, AFF), Corien Glaudemans (researcher, HGA), Ad van Liempt (journalist and author), Guus Meershoek (historian), Erik Somers (historian), Gerrold van der Stroom (historian), and Sytze van der Zee (journalist and author). (Though we studied and cited and much appreciated their work and in some cases consulted with or interviewed them, these authors and researchers should not be assumed to be supporters of the outcome of our investigation. Indeed, they may not have been informed of our final findings.)
And then there are all those people who provided personal assistance in a different way and on a less frequent basis. These could be witnesses, authors to whom we spoke, archivists who helped us navigate vast public and private records, family researchers and historians, and people representing important institutes.