WE are everywhere: Protect the Anne Frank Memorial

NOTE: This fundraiser has been created by Oliver Russell to collect donations with permission from Dr. Dan Prinzing, Executive Director of the Wassmuth Center for Human Rights and with community support. All donations collected will directly benefit the Wassmuth Center with a focus on protecting the Anne Frank Memorial with the addition of security cameras and through the provision of educational resources and programming to the community.  
 
On the evening of Monday, December 7,  The Idaho Anne Frank Memorial was vandalized. Stickers with swastikas and the words, “We are everywhere” were found affixed to the statue of Anne Frank’s diary, and others were pasted throughout the park. This explicit act of white supremacy serves as a reminder of the stark and disturbing pervasiveness of racism, bigotry, and hatred that continues to plague our society and which this community-driven fundraising campaign aims to turn on its head.  
 
“The Memorial was funded by individuals, businesses, and foundations to be a physical statement of our shared values; we recognize today that one of those values is that we must stand up to confront hate,” Wassmuth Center for Human Rights  Executive Director, Dan Prinzing, said. Today, December 10, is International Human Rights Day- the day the United Nations General Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) in 1948. As we reflect on the conception of this milestone document, we are reminded of our opportunity to reaffirm the importance of human rights in reconstructing the world we aspire to, our collective need for global security, and the recognition of our interconnectedness and shared humanity (UN, 2020).  
 
With the support of the community, Oliver Russell, the Boise-based branding agency that first helped to organize and mobilize fundraising efforts in 2000 to create the Memorial, has started this GoFundMe campaign with the permission of Prinzing to raise $5,000 to add a security system from Sloan Security Group to better protect the educational park. “While it saddens us that this security system has become necessary, right now it is important that we protect it because not only is the memorial located in the heart of the city, we are the heart of the city” shared Prinzing. Any funds raised in addition to the Center’s $5,000 goal will be directed to educational programming and resources so that the Wassmuth Center can be “even louder in the community, reminding all that Idaho is too great for hate” said Prinzing. 
 
A virtual vigil is being planned for Monday, December 14th, 2020. Details to follow.