Justin Bieber draws outrage over Anne Frank comment
April 15, 2013
Miscellaneous
AMSTERDAM, The Netherlands -- Teenage pop star Justin Bieber has angered fans and history buffs with his message in a guestbook at the Anne Frank Museum, saying he hoped the Jewish teenager who died in a Nazi concentration camp in 1945 "would have been a Belieber", or his devoted fan.
The 19-year-old Canadian wrote the message when stopping by at the Anne Frank House on Friday, between his concert in Antwerp, Belgium and a Saturday performance in Arnhem, The Netherlands.
His entry in the guestbook read: "Truly inspiring to be able to come here. Anne was a great girl. Hopefully she would have been a belieber."
His note has angered historians and admirers of Frank, whose Holocaust diary became a literary must-read for students of World War Two, and many have taken to Twitter and other social media sites to attack the teenager for his naivete.
"So young and yet such a total idiot," tweeted Sebastian Roch�. "Honestly disgusted by Justin Bieber right now. Anne Frank's house is a place to pay respect," commented another Twitter user.
A spokesperson for the Anne Frank museum defended the singer, however, telling BBC News: ''He's 19. It's a crazy life he's living, he didn't mean bad ... and also it's nice that he made the effort, he didn't have to come.''
Anne became an important historical figure following her death for detailing the suffering of Jews in Europe during World War II in a diary, which was later published and used as the basis for many films and plays.
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