This year is the 75th anniversary of the liberation of the Netherlands from Nazi occupation on May 5, 1945. Holland was liberated mostly by the Canadian troops, with the Light Horse Regiment and the Lord Strathcona Regiments playing key roles. The connection between Canada and the Netherlands remains strong to this day.
The resin version of the statue in place.
The Dutch Canadian Club of Edmonton (DCC) was looking for a project to acknowledge and recognize this milestone. John Stobbe, broker/owner of Century 21 Platinum Realty in Edmonton, suggested donating a statue of Anne Frank to the City of Edmonton, which was approved by the DCC and Alberta Light Horse Regiment.
Stobbe contacted Sebastiaan d’Hont, the son of Pieter d’Hont, a famous sculpturer in the Netherlands. He designed and created a statue of Anne Frank in 1959 that was gifted to the City of Utrecht in 1960. The family had a clay cast of the original statue and were willing to recast it for the Edmonton Anne Frank project.
Stobbe, who serves as co-chair of the project, says this will be only the second Anne Frank sculpture in the world to be in a public space. The statue will go in the newly renovated Light Horse Park in Edmonton’s Old Strathcona.
A Go Fund Me Campaign was established along with a direct mail campaign to the Dutch community. Local stores also had collection boxes. By November 1, the goal of $75,000 was achieved.
The new bronze statue arrived in Edmonton on July 12. Before it can be installed, improvements to the park must be completed. The DCC is working with Edmonton Granite to complete the base for the statue. There’s also a plan to include two story boards to explain the connection between Canada and the Netherlands and the Liberation and to explain the importance of Anne Frank and what she symbolizes. A tulip garden will complete the site.
A resin version of the statue was sent to Edmonton last January to give organizers an idea of what the final bronze statue will be like and to aid with the planning of the site. This statue will be sent to the Anne Frank School in Vaughan, Ont. for display from January to June 2021.
