This is an update from the letter-writer who has family that survived the Holocaust and was considering asking their company to paint over an Anne Frank portrait in an office mural because of how often they had to walk past it. Here’s their update.

First, to clarify a few things (I’m terrible with measurements): all the portraits are about life-sized, maybe a bit bigger, in panels maybe 2×3 feet. You can easily see them from a distance. My two options were to walk within about 6 inches of Anne Frank, or like 10 feet away. Either way, I had to see her clearly at eye level multiple times per day no matter what.

Secondly, it seems like my wording about finding the situation “very uncomfortable” and “triggering” landed very differently with readers than what I intended. I found the image more distracting than anything. I would often lose concentration on my work and spend like 15 minutes at my desk thinking about the Holocaust or “how weird is it to have an Anne Frank portrait in an office?” I admit this job was a huge life change. I was pretty much in a situation at my previous job where I was told “the partner and the clients are going. You can follow them to the new firm (where I am now) or stay” — where I sensed I’d be laid off. So that sense of dislocation might have colored my phrasing, but this was not nearly as distressing as commenters inferred.

Also, as a person, I’ve been to the Holocaust museums in Washington and Berlin. I’m an avid history reader. Judgment at Nuremberg and The Reader are some of my favorite films. I wasn’t upset to ever have to think about the Holocaust or WWII or other tough topics, but I didn’t think it was very appropriate for it to come up while I was at work trying to do the job I get paid for.

I was honestly really disappointed to hear your advice initially. I wanted this to be a thing I could change and control when there was a lot of upheaval in my life. I fully agree with it in hindsight, and thank you so much for publishing my letter. I didn’t read the comments at the time because I thought engaging might be bad for my mental health.

I did not plan on taking your advice. I planned to keep my head down, work hard, build a good professional reputation at my new company, and then raise the issue 6–12 months later.

About 7 months after I wrote in, I stumbled across my letter again and did read through the comments. I’m profoundly grateful to most of the commenters, many of whom self-identified as Ashkenazi Jews. The overwhelming sentiment was: “I get why this makes you uncomfortable, but it would look terrible to just paint over the memory of the Holocaust, it would probably really upset other Jewish coworkers, and potentially be a PR scandal. Now that it’s there, it has to stay up.” I never considered that perspective, and it completely changed my thinking. I would never want to make other Jewish coworkers upset because of my actions, and hearing others’ perspectives was really valuable. I am so glad I had not raised the issue, and I don’t ever intend to.

In the meantime, I’ve mostly used dark humor to cope with the situation, but this also falls under the category of Weird Workplace Things You Quickly Get Used To. I intentionally started taking the closer route past Anne because I didn’t want to let this picture affect or bother me that much. I now affectionately refer to Anne Frank as “my esteemed colleague,” “my work bestie,” “my BFF Anne,” etc. And if that makes others a little uncomfortable, I’m happy to have a conversation about why it’s problematic to have random pictures of historical figures in the office that have zero to do with our business.

One commenter really hit the nail on the head: people are complicated, and their legacies mean different things to different people. My coworkers waste loads of time examining and discussing the portraits on the wall, their legacies, and “is it offensive to include this person’s likeness?” Some actual conversations I’ve heard or been part of:

  • “The number of people on this wall who are also in the Epstein files just keeps growing.”
  • “Anne Frank’s actually the ONLY Jewish representation. You’d think Einstein or RBG would be up there, but you’d be wrong.”
  • “Walt Disney — wasn’t he super anti-semitic?” “Yup.”
  • “Can you believe the only Latin representation on this wall is Lin-Manuel Miranda? Not a single Latina!”
  • “Did you know Charlton Heston ultimately became the spokesperson for the NRA?”
  • “Do you think people from former British colonies would find the image of Queen Elizabeth or King Charles offensive?”
  • “Is it weird they sandwiched Marie Curie between Benedict Cumberbatch and Will Ferrell? I’m not sure they’re of the same caliber … but at least she got a quote!”
  • “Can you believe they put Thomas Jefferson next to Aretha Franklin!? Oh wait — apparently that’s just Alexander Hamilton.”

I think the entire wall is in very poor taste and should never have been painted in an office to begin with, but I also think that’s just emblematic of my whole company’s culture. If we ever redecorate, I would gladly speak up about sticking to landscapes, animals, or just plain colors — something more neutral. It’s something I’ve learned to live with and find the absurdist humor in.

Thank you again for publishing my letter, and thank you to those commenters who totally changed my perspective. It sparked a lot of thoughtful conversations.