Anne Frank betrayal suspect identified after 77 years by ex-FBI agent

An investigation into the Anne Frank betrayal case has identified a new suspect in the search for the person responsible for giving her up to the Nazis.

A Jewish notary may have become a Nazi informant in order to save his own family's lives, according to a retired FBI agent.

The potential informant has been identified as Arnold van den Bergh, who had been a member of Amsterdam's Jewish Council.

The body was formed in order to enforce Nazi policy in Jewish areas of Amsterdam, but it was disbanded in 1943, as the members were sent to concentration camps.

The team created to carry out the investigation has been fronted by ex-FBI agent Vince Pankoke, and backed by a group of historians and experts.

The team found that van den Bergh had not been sent to a camp, and was instead living in Amsterdam as normal at the time. There was also a suggestion that a member of the Jewish Council had been feeding Nazis information.

"When van den Bergh lost all his series of protections exempting him from having to go to the camps, he had to provide something valuable to the Nazis that he's had contact with to let him and his wife at that time stay safe," Pankoke told CBS 60 Minutes.

The team had struggled with the revelation that another Jewish person was the betrayer, but they also found evidence that Anne Frank's father, Otto, may have also been aware of that but kept it secret.

An anonymous note that was sent to Otto Frank was found in the files of a previous investigation, which reportedly identified Arnold van den Bergh as the perpetrator.

Mr Pankoke claimed that the note may not have been made public due to anti-semitism.

"Perhaps he just felt that if I bring this up again… it'll only stoke the fires further," he said.

"But we have to keep in mind that the fact that [van den Bergh] was Jewish just meant that he was placed into an untenable position by the Nazis to do something to save his life".

Dutch newspaper De Volkskrant reports van den Bergh died in 1950.

The Anne Frank Museum said it was "impressed" with the work put in by the investigation team in a statement.