Anne Frank's cousin Buddy Elias, who dedicate his life to memory of Holocaust, dies at 89

FILE - In this Nov. 11, 2013 file picture the cousin and last surviving direct relative of Anne Frank, Buddy Elias, is pictures in Frankfurt, Germany. Buddy Elias, who committed his life to the memory of the victims of the Holocaust, has died in Basel, Switzerland, at age 89. A spokesman for the Anne Frank Fonds said Wednesday March 18, 2015. Elias died peacefully at home Monday, surrounded by his family. (AP Photo/dpa, Frank Rumpenhorst,file) (The Associated Press)

FILE - In this June 7, 2005 file picture Buddy Elias, Anne Frank's f cousin and only living relative of Frank, speaks at The Anne Frank Center USA's "Anne Frank 75th Birthday Tribute", a gala honoring the life of Frank, in New York. Buddy Elias, who committed his life to the memory of the victims of the Holocaust, has died in Basel, Switzerland, at age 89. A spokesman for the Anne Frank Fonds said Wednesday March 18, 2015. Elias died peacefully at home Monday, surrounded by his family. (AP Photo/Tina Fineberg, file) (The Associated Press)

BERLIN – Buddy Elias, the cousin of Anne Frank who committed his life to the memory of the victims of the Holocaust, has died in Basel, Switzerland, at age 89.

A spokesman for the Anne Frank Fonds said Wednesday Elias died peacefully at home Monday, surrounded by his family.

The organization said in a statement that Elias was born in Frankfurt, Germany, in 1925, where he spent his early childhood years with his cousin Anne.

Anne Frank became famous for a diary she kept while her family went into hiding from the Nazis in Amsterdam when she was 13. The Jewish teenager died in the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp in March 1945.

As president of the Anne Frank Fonds, Elias oversaw the continuing publication of Frank's diary and helped preserve her legacy.

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