Anne Frank Sapling Coming to Boston Common

A major piece of history connected to one of the most well-known figures from World War II and the Holocaust will soon have a home in the city of Boston.

Mayor Thomas M. Menino's office announced Friday that a sapling descended from a horse chestnut tree which stood outside Anne Frank’s home in Amsterdam will be planted on Boston Common.

The sapling will be unveiled in a ceremony at Boston Common Tuesday, June 4 at 11:30 a.m.

“It is an honor and a privilege to have this sapling from the same tree that gave Anne Frank so much peace and hope,” Menino said in a statement.  “Her history joins our history on Boston Common  and new life will bloom in Anne’s memory as this tree grows and provides inspiration and beauty to future generations.”

Boston and 10 other communities were awarded saplings by The Anne Frank Center USA from the tree that stood outside the Secret Annex in Amsterdam where Frank and her family hid from the Nazis for two years.

The Friday statement included the following passage from "The Diary of Anne Frank:"

“From my favorite 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.”

The tree toppled over in a 2010 wind storm, and 34 organizations submitted proposals to receive one of the saplings from the tree.

According to the mayor's office, the planting is the culmination of a student project by 15-year-old Aliyah Finkel.

“I am pleased to have played a small part in bringing the sapling to Boston Common,” Finkel said in the statement. “I learned about the Anne Frank Tree project while preparing for my Bat Mitzvah three years ago and felt that, given Boston’s important role in establishing liberty, freedom and tolerance as fundamental precepts for this country, Boston Common was a perfect spot for one of these historic trees.”