German officials consider renaming Anne Frank kindergarten for ‘diversity’

Officials in the German city of Tangerhütte in Saxony-Anhalt are considering renaming the Anne Frank daycare center to be more “inclusive” and “diverse” after complaints from migrant parents.

Although the kindergarten was named after the famous Holocaust victim in 1970, officials now say it is too political. According to some reports the daycare center will instead be named Weltentdecker (World Explorers).

“We sought a name without political connotations,” said the daycare’s manager Linda Schichor, and Tangerhütte Mayor Andreas Brohm agreed.

“Parents and staff desire a name that aligns more with the revised concept, a name free from global political association,” said Brohm, who says there have been discussions since earlier this year to rename the kindergarten, though it is unclear why. “Tangerhütte, with its educational institutions and all its civic engagement, stands for an open-minded Germany,” the mayor added.

The impetus reportedly came from immigrant parents who complained that the story of Anne Frank “is difficult to understand” and unrelated to them.

Among those who migrate to Germany, Ukrainians, Russians, and Poles have topped the list in recent years. But in Saxony-Anhalt, the largest group after Ukrainians are Syrians, who comprise over 20% of the foreign population. In the state’s Stendal district where Tangerhütte is located, Syrians comprise the largest foreign group at almost 30% of the migrant population, followed by Afghans at 11.2%, according to a report from the Leibniz Institute for Regional Geography.

“The reference to the parents with a migrant background, who often cannot do anything with the name of Anne Frank, is the best argument against the name change: This argument means that the integration of these parents into German society is failing,” commented State Association of Jewish Communities in Saxony-Anhalt Chairman Max Privorozki.

Privorozki is right, according to studies which show that “diversity,” rather than foster integration, results in lower social capital and causes what researchers refer to as “The Turtle Effect.” 

Harvard researcher Robert Putnam described this effect in 2007 after conducting a massive study on “diversity.” As cited by the New York Times, Putnam wrote that those in more diverse communities tend to "distrust their neighbors, regardless of the color of their skin, to withdraw even from close friends, to expect the worst from their community and its leaders, to volunteer less, give less to charity and work on community projects less often, to register to vote less, to agitate for social reform more but have less faith that they can actually make a difference, and to huddle unhappily in front of the television."

"People living in ethnically diverse settings appear to 'hunker down' — that is, to pull in like a turtle," Putnam wrote.