This morning I woke from my sleep to hear the sad news of the death of 100-year-old Miep Gies.
Last week I started to read her memoir, Remembering Anne Frank, which tells the world-famous story from Miep's perspective, and gives the reader a fascinating insight into the dangerous risks that she and her husband Jan were prepared to, and did, take. Miep's bravery and resilience -- qualities that she modestly protested were not remarkable at the time -- ensured that the Frank and Van Pels families remained hidden from the Nazis for two years, and her practicality ensured that Anne's diary was saved from the ransacked "Secret Annexe," later to become one of the most significant historical sources of all time.
Miep was a remarkably headstrong, kind-hearted, competent woman who put others before herself without a fuss, refusing to accept throughout her life that she was in any way a hero. She worked for Otto Frank from 1933, willing to put her to hand to any task and rising up quickly to become a trusted and senior member of the company. She would get around Amsterdam on her trusty bicycle, always busy, and frequently went for dinner at the Franks' with Jan. Anne was very fond of Miep, and was always bursting with questions. When Miep recalled her, she often said that Anne's most memorable personality trait was her curiosity.
When the Frank family went into hiding, Miep carried on working in the office below whilst sourcing extra food and other essentials for the group hidden in the annexe. As the war-years progressed, this became an increasingly dangerous and difficult task, and Miep would often spend hours searching the shops for the most basic of necessities, using illegal ration cards and utilising the black market. Jan, meanwhile, worked in an underground organisation helping victims of the Nazis whilst also continuing his day-job as a cover. Together they lived in fear, trying not to think too hard about the implications of their risk-taking, and even hid a Jewish student in their flat on top of their other dangerous activities.
When the residents of the secret hiding place were arrested, Miep found Anne's diary and writings and, out of respect for Anne, did not read them. Instead, she placed them in the drawer of her desk so that she could return them to Anne "after the war." Of course, tragically, Anne never did return, but Miep faithfully handed the diary to her old employer. Without Miep, we wouldn't have The Diary of Anne Frank.
I have a soft-spot for Miep because I played her in a production of Tales from the Hidden Annexe. The experience of being in that play has changed me as a person, more than I ever expected it would, and I have such enormous respect for anyone who played a part, however small, in the resistance against Nazi occupation in Europe.
Miep, with her independent and headstrong spirit, was an ordinary person in extraordinary circumstances who had the gift of human kindness and courage. The last significant character in Anne's famous story has now departed from this world; we can all learn something from Miep Gies.
Tot ziens,
xxx
When I first heard the story of 'Anne Frank's Diary', Miep was the character who most interested me. She was indeed a remarkably brave, resourceful and benevolent woman. Props to her! xxx
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