Donation is in response to banning of Holocaust memoir.

(Courtesy of A&H) In response to the removal of the graphic version of “The Diary of a Young Girl” by Anne Frank from the Keller Independent School District’s classrooms and libraries, Abeles & Heymann has sent 50 copies each of the graphic and original versions of the book to Keller’s public library.

“Antisemitism and Holocaust denial take many forms. Removing a book that tells the true story of a Jewish girl who was killed by Nazis is one of them. I’m sending these books so that the people of Keller, Texas, have the opportunity to read her story. We cannot erase history,” said Seth Leavitt, CEO of Abeles & Heymann Kosher Provisions.

Abeles & Heymann was founded in 1954 by kosher butcher Oscar Abeles and his nephew Leopold Heymann in the Bronx, New York. Abeles and Heymann were both born in Germany and escaped Nazi persecution. Heymann arrived in the U.S. alone at the age of 15, the same age Anne Frank was while hiding from the Nazis.

According to the Texas Tribune, the Keller Independent School District emailed principals on Tuesday, August 16, ordering the removal of numerous books, including an edition of Anne Frank’s “The Diary of a Young Girl,” which is a seminal work about a young girl’s experience in hiding from the Nazis. Frank was killed in a concentration camp in 1945.

The school district’s curriculum director, Jennifer Prince, is quoted in an email stating, “By the end of today, I need all books pulled from the library and classrooms.”

These books will be evaluated to see if they are found to meet the standards for the school district.

“How can any Holocaust education not be appropriate for school children?” asked Leavitt. “The world we live in can only benefit from teaching children and teens the horrors of racism and hate.”

The district has not stated when the evaluation process will be concluded.