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Miep Gies

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"Miep" redirects here. For The Hungarian Justice and Life Party, see MIEP.
Miep Gies
Born
Hermine Santrouschitz

(1909-02-15)February 15, 1909
Vienna, Austria-Hungary
DiedJanuary 11, 2010(2010-01-11) (aged 100)
Hoorn, Netherlands
OccupationHumanitarian
Known forhiding Anne Frank and family from the Nazis
Spouse(s)Jan Gies (1905–1993)
(1941–1993; his death)
ChildrenPaul Gies (born 1950)
Websitehttp://www.miepgies.com

Miep Gies (February 15, 1909 – January 11, 2010[3]) was one of the Dutch citizens who hid Anne Frank, her family and several family friends in an attic annex above Anne's father's place of business from the Nazis during World War II.[4][5][6][7][8] She discovered and preserved Anne Frank's diary after the Franks were arrested.[9][10]

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 company, Opekta. The company sold a pectin preparation used for making jams. 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.

Miep Gies and Egon Krenz in 1989

Hiding the Franks

With her husband, and her family friends, 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 company's office building on Amsterdam's Prinsengracht from July 1942 to August 4, 1944.[11]

After the Arrest

Gies and the other helpers could have been shot if they had been caught hiding Jews [citation needed]. 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.[12]

Before the hiding place was emptied by the authorities, Gies retrieved Anne Frank's diaries and saved them in her desk drawer. Once the war was over and it was confirmed that Anne Frank had perished in Bergen-Belsen, Gies gave the collection of papers and notebooks to the sole survivor from the Secret Annex, Otto Frank.[9] After transcribing sections for his family, his daughter's literary ability became apparent and he arranged for the book's publication in 1947. Gies 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 the diary contained the names of all five of the helpers as well as their black market suppliers. She was persuaded by Otto Frank to read it in its second printing.[10]

Later life and death

In 1994, Miep Gies was awarded the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany; in 1995, she received the Yad Vashem medal, and in 1997, she was knighted by Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands. Miep's and Jan's only child, Paul, was born on July 13, 1950. Jan Gies died in 1993 from diabetes.

In December 1994, during the making of the documentary film Anne Frank Remembered, Miep was introduced to Peter Pfeffer, the son of Fritz Pfeffer. After his parents divorced, Pfeffer was raised by his father, until his father felt it was too dangerous for him to remain in Germany, and in 1938 was sent to London to live with his uncle. By the end of the war he had lost most of his close family, including his father and mother, who had died in Theresienstadt. [citation needed]

Pfeffer moved to the United States and California, where he founded a successful office supply business. Pfeffer, upon meeting Miep Gies, expressed his thanks to her for attempting to save his father's life and Miep asked him if there was anything he wanted to know about his father, expressing that he was a good man and fine dentist. Pfeffer died of cancer two months later. Miep Gies stated in her autobiography, and on her own website:

I stand at the end of the long, long line of good Dutch people who did what I did or more – much more - during those dark and terrible times years ago, but always like yesterday in the hearts of those of us who bear witness. Never a day goes by that I do not think of what happened then.

Miep Gies lived in the Dutch province of Noord-Holland. According to Carol Ann Lee's biography of Otto Frank, The Hidden Life of Otto Frank, Gies stopped granting interviews after enduring a bout of severe ill health. On February 15, 2009, she celebrated her 100th birthday. At the time, according to her son, Gies was in good health and followed the news every day.[13][14] Gies died on January 11, 2010, following a short illness. It was reported that this was caused by a fall.[15][16][17]

Gies was portrayed in the 2007 American movie Freedom Writers.

The minor planet 99949 Miepgies is named in her honor.[18]

References

  1. ^ http://teacher.scholastic.com/frank/moving.htm
  2. ^ The Washington Post http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/guestvoices/2010/01/miep_gies_was_a_true_saint.html. Retrieved 2010-05-12. {{cite news}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  3. ^ "Anne Frank diary guardian Miep Gies dies aged 100". BBC News. 12 January 2010. Retrieved 12 January 2010.
  4. ^ Obituary Los Angeles Times, 12 January 2010.
  5. ^ Obituary Washington Post, 12 January 2010.
  6. ^ Obituary London Times, 13 January 2010.
  7. ^ Obituary London Guardian, 13 January 2010.
  8. ^ Obituary London Independent, 14 January 2010.
  9. ^ a b "Anne Frank guardian reaches 100". BBC News. 15 February 2009.
  10. ^ a b Carolyn Kellogg (17 February 2009). "Miep Gies, Anne Frank's custodian, turns 100". Los Angeles Times.
  11. ^ María Mercedes Romagnoli "The guardians of Holland" The International Raoul Wallenberg Foundation
  12. ^ http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/obituaries/articles/2010/01/12/miep_gies_100_helped_hide_franks_found_annes_diary/
  13. ^ "Anne Frank helper turns 100"
  14. ^ Template:Nl"Anne Frank-helper Miep Gies viert honderdste verjaardag"
  15. ^ Goldstein, Richard (January 11, 2010). "Miep Gies, the Last of Those Who Hid Anne Frank, Dies at 100". New York Times. Retrieved 2010-01-12. Miep Gies, the last survivor among Anne Frank's protectors and the woman who preserved the diary that endures as a testament to the human spirit in the face of unfathomable evil, died Monday night, the Anne Frank Museum in Amsterdam said. She was 100. The Miep Gies Web site said Mrs. Gies died after a short illness but provided no other details. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  16. ^ "Anne Frank’s last helper, Miep Gies (100) dies"
  17. ^ Template:Nl" Miep Gies (1909-2010) - Hoeder van Het Achterhuis"
  18. ^ JPL Small-Body Database.
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