Bill Clinton speaks at an event dedicating a new installation on the grounds of his presidential library in Little Rock.
Little Rock is now home to two of only 11 saplings in the U.S. from the white horse chestnut tree that stood outside Anne Frank’s secret annex — and one will now stand at the Clinton Presidential Center.
Former President Bill Clinton spoke Friday at a ceremony dedicating the sapling and an installation honoring Frank. He talked about issues of discrimination and terrorism, such as ISIS, as well as those of the past, like the Little Rock Nine.
Clinton said that when we see what ISIS is doing now, we are in essence “seeing the replay of what cost Anne Frank her life.” He said that he hopes the tree is a reminder of the lessons humanity has learned in the past. He said that the differences between people are small.
“We shouldn’t have to have a killing to be reminded of our common humanity,” Clinton said.
The Clinton Foundation and the Sisterhood of Congregation B’Nai Israel began a partnership in 2009 and were awarded a chestnut tree by the Anne Frank Center USA’s sapling project. The installation at the Clinton Center features five framed, etched glass panels. The sapling will be kept at a local nursery until it has matured and is stable enough for its new home.
More than 600 school children from the Little Rock area attended the ceremony along with hundreds of other guests.
Ronald Leopold, the executive director of the Anne Frank House, said he hoped that one day there would be no discrimination against people because of their differences, from race and religion to sexual orientation.
“I hope young people will come here to this beautiful park and sit in the shadows of Anne’s chestnut tree,” Leopold said. “Dreams are a part of being young — about the kind of world [young people] want to live in; a world where hatred has made way for compassion.”
Stephanie Streett, the executive director of the Clinton Foundation, said that for Anne Frank, the chestnut tree outside the annex window represented freedom, and she hoped that people would be inspired by the memorial to create opportunities and outlets for peace.
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