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| Miep Gies | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | Hermine Santrouschitz (1909-02-15)February 15, 1909 Vienna, Austria-Hungary |
| Died | January 11, 2010(2010-01-11) (aged 100) Hoorn, Netherlands |
| Occupation | Humanitarian |
| Spouse(s) | Jan Gies (1905–1993) (1941–1993; his death) |
| Children | Paul Gies (born 1960) |
| Website | http://www.miepgies.com |
Miep Gies (February 15, 1909 – January 11, 2010) was one of the Dutch citizens who hid Anne Frank and her family from the Nazis during World War II. She discovered and preserved Anne Frank's diary after the Franks were arrested.
Early life
Born Hermine Santrouschitz in Vienna, Miep Gies was transported to Leiden from Vienna in December 1920 to escape the food shortages prevailing in Austria after World War I. In 1922, she moved with her foster family to Amsterdam. In 1933, she met Otto Frank when she applied for the post of temporary secretary in his spice company, Opekta. She initially ran the Complaints and Information desk in Opekta, and was eventually promoted to a more general administrative role. She became a close friend of the Frank family, as did Jan Gies, whom she married on July 16, 1941 after she refused to join a Nazi women's association and was threatened with deportation back to Austria. Her knowledge of Dutch and German helped the Frank family assimilate into Dutch society, and she and her husband became regular guests at the Franks' home.
Hiding the Franks
With her husband, and her colleagues, Victor Kugler, Johannes Kleiman, and Bep Voskuijl, Miep Gies helped hide Edith and Otto Frank, their daughters Margot and Anne, Hermann and Auguste van Pels, their son Peter, and Fritz Pfeffer in a secret upstairs room that was not used in the spice company's office building on Amsterdam's Prinsengracht from July 1942 to August 4, 1944.
After the Arrest
In theory, Miep and the other helpers could have been shot if they had been caught hiding Jews. On the morning of August 4, 1944, acting on information provided by an informant, the Grüne Polizei arrested the people hidden at Frank's place of business, as well as Victor Kugler and Johannes Kleiman. A few days later, Miep unsuccessfully tried to bribe the Austrian Nazi officer to release her friends. Three separate criminal investigations after the war all failed to identify the informant.
Before the hiding place was emptied by the authorities, Miep retrieved Anne Frank's diaries and saved them in her desk drawer for Anne's return. Once the war was over and it was confirmed that Anne had perished in Bergen-Belsen, Gies gave the collection of papers and notebooks to the sole survivor from the Secret Annexe, Anne's father, Otto. After transcribing sections for his family, his daughter's literary ability became apparent and he arranged for the book's publication in 1947. Miep did not read the diaries before turning them over to him, and later remarked that if she had she would have had to destroy them because Anne had named all five of the helpers (the Gestapo had identified and arrested two) as well as their black market suppliers. She was, however, eventually persuaded by Otto Frank to read it in its second printing. she died when she was 100 like um 2 weeks ago.
References
- http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/guestvoices/2010/01/miep_gies_was_a_true_saint.html
- "Anne Frank diary guardian Miep Gies dies aged 100". BBC News. 12 January 2010. Retrieved 12 January 2010.
- Obituary Los Angeles Times, 12 January 2010.
- Obituary Washington Post, 12 January 2010.
- Obituary London Times, 13 January 2010.
- Obituary London Guardian, 13 January 2020.
- Obituary London Independent, 14 January 2010.
- ^ "Anne Frank guardian reaches 100". BBC News. 15 February 2009.
- ^ Carolyn Kellogg (17 February 2009). "Miep Gies, Anne Frank's custodian, turns 100". Los Angeles Times.
External links
- Official website of Miep Gies (English)
- Miep Gies at IMDb
- Quicktime movie. Miep Gies, in her former office at 263 Prinsengracht, talks about the war years
- Quicktime movie. Miep Gies remembers how she met Anne Frank
- Profile of Miep Gies by the Anne Frank House
- 1998 interview with Miep Gies
- Image of Miep's wartime identity card
- Photo of Miep and Jan Gies, Bep Voskuijl, Victor Kugler taken in 1970s
- Holocaust Rescuers Bibliography with information and links to books about Miep Gies and other Dutch rescuers
- Miep Gies - Daily Telegraph obituary