Amsterdam  - The Dutch Read & Write Foundation on Friday announced the publication of a simplified edition of the Anne Frank Diary for 1.5 million Dutch nationals who have difficulty reading or have only recently learned to read.

The original text has been simplified and shortened, with the length of the sentences substantially shorter than in the original written by the teenage Jewish girl. The latest edition also has many pictures.

A New Year's card written by Anne Frank herself has been discovered in the Netherlands, Dutch media reports said Wednesday. The postcard will most likely be given to the foundation that runs the Anne Frank House for inclusion in its permanent exhibition.

During World War II, German-Jewish Anne Frank and her family as well as four other Jews hid in a building in German-occupied Amsterdam, during which period young Anne penned her diary.

They were betrayed in 1944 and deported to concentration camps in Germany and Poland. Seven of the eight Jews were killed. Only Otto Frank, Anne Frank's father, survived.

Anne Frank's diary was found in the building by a one of the people who had looked after the eight while they had been in hiding.

Otto Frank received the diary after the war and decided to publish it.

The Anne Frank diary has been translated into several languages and has sold millions of copies worldwide. It is considered standard literature on World War II and the Nazi persecution of the Jews. (dpa)