Miep Gies

Hermine"Miep"Gies(Dutch:[mipˈxis];néeSantrouschitz;15 February 1909 – 11 January 2010) was one of the Dutch citizens who hidAnne Frank,her family (Otto Frank,Margot Frank,Edith Frank) and four other Dutch Jews (Fritz Pfeffer,Hermann van Pels,Auguste van Pels,Peter van Pels) from theNazisin an annex above Otto Frank's business premises duringWorld War II.She was Austrian by birth, but in 1920, at the age of eleven, she was taken in as a foster child by a Dutch family inLeidento whom she became very attached. Although she was only supposed to stay for six months, this stay was extended to one year because of frail health, after which Gies chose to remain with them, living the rest of her life in the Netherlands.

Miep Gies
Gies in 1987
Born	Hermine Santrouschitz 15 February 1909 Vienna,Austria-Hungary
Died	11 January 2010(2010-01-11)(aged 100) Hoorn,Netherlands
Known for	Hiding Dutch Jews, includingAnne Frankand her family, from theNazis;keepingAnne's diary
Spouse	Jan Gies ​ ​ (m.1941; died 1993)​
Children	1
Website	miepgies

Otto Frank (father of Anne Frank) and Miep Gies, Achterhuis, Anne Frankhuis, Amsterdam, 9 May 1958

Miep and her husband Jan Gies at the book presentation of Miep Gies:Herinneringen aan Anne Frank(the Dutch version of the bookAnne Frank remembered: the story of the woman who helped to hide the Frank family,1987) in Anne Frankhuis near the moveable bookcase covering the stair to the secret hiding place "Achterhuis", Anne Frankhuis, Amsterdam, 5 May 1987

She said, "Over two million Holand people had helped hid Jewish people in the Second World War, I am just doing what I can to help".

In 1933, Gies began working forOtto Frank,a Jewish businessman who had moved with his family from Germany to the Netherlands in the hope of sparing his family fromNazipersecution. She became a close, trusted friend of the Frank family and was a great support to them during the twenty-five months they spent in hiding. Together with her colleagueBep Voskuijl,she retrievedAnne Frank's diaryafter the family was arrested, and kept the papers safe until Otto Frank returned fromAuschwitzin June 1945 and learned of his younger daughter's death soon afterwards. Gies had stored Anne Frank's papers in the hopes of returning them to the girl, but gave them to Otto Frank, who compiled them into a diary first published in June 1947.

In collaboration withAlison Leslie Gold,Gies wrote the bookAnne Frank Remembered: The Story of the Woman Who Helped to Hide the Frank Familyin 1987.She died in 2010 at age 100.

Early life

Born inVienna,Austria on 15 February 1909 to Karoline Maria Santrouschitz,She was sent toLeidenfrom Vienna in December 1920 to escape the food shortages prevailing in Austria afterWorld War I.The Nieuwenburgs, a working-class family who already had five children of their own, took her as their foster daughter, and called her by the diminutive "Miep" by which she became known. In 1922, she moved with her foster family to Gaaspstraat 25inAmsterdam.Gies was anhonors student,and described herself as "reserved and very independent"; after graduating high school, she worked as an accountant and then in 1933 as a secretary with the Dutch branch of the German spice firmOpekta.Gies wrote, "But the office was not the only thing in my life. My social life at this time was very lively. I loved to dance and belonged like many young Dutch girls, to a dance club."

Otto Frank had just relocated from Germany and had been appointed managing director of Opekta's recently expanded Dutch operations. Gies, Frank's employee, became a close friend of the family, as did her fiancé,Jan Gies.After refusing to join a Nazi women's association, her passport was invalidated, and she was ordered to be deported back to Austria within 90 days (by then annexed by Germany, which classified her as a German citizen). The couple faced some difficulties, but they were married on 16 July 1941 so that she could obtain Dutch citizenship and thus evade deportation. "Anne was impressed with my gold ring. She looked at it dreamily. (...) Because times were hard, we had only one ring, although the custom was for a couple to have two. Henk [In her book, Miep called Jan by the name of Henk, because Anne Frank had used that pseudonym in her diary] and I had barely scraped together enough money for one gold ring. He had insisted that I should wear it."Gies's fluency inDutchandGermanhelped the Frank family assimilate into Dutch society, and she and her husband became regular guests at the Franks' home.

Hiding the families

With her husband Jan and other Opekta employees (Victor Kugler,Johannes KleimanandBep Voskuijl), Miep Gies helped hide Otto and Edith Frank; their daughtersMargotandAnne;Hermann,AugusteandPetervan Pels; andFritz Pfefferin several upstairs rooms in the company's office building on Amsterdam'sPrinsengrachtfrom 6 July 1942 to 4 August 1944.In an interview, Gies said she was glad to help the families hide because she was extremely concerned after seeing what was happening to the Jews in Amsterdam. Every day, she saw trucks loaded with Jews heading to the railway station, en route toNazi concentration camps.She did not tell anyone, including her foster parents, about the people in hiding whom she was assisting.

When purchasing food for the people in hiding, Gies avoided suspicion in many ways: for example, by visiting several different suppliers in a day. She never carried more than what one shopping bag could hold or what she could hide under her coat. To prevent the Opekta workers from becoming suspicious, Gies tried not to enter the hiding place during office hours. Her husband also helped by providing ration cards that he had obtained illegally. By visiting various grocery shops and markets on a regular basis, Gies developed a good sense of the supply situation.

At their apartment, close to the Merwedeplein where the Franks had lived before going into hiding, Gies and her husband Jan (who belonged to theDutch resistance) also hid an anti-Nazi university student.

The capture

On the morning of 4 August 1944, sitting at her desk, Gies, along with Voskuijl and Kleiman, was confronted by a man with a gun commanding "Stay put! Don't move! Not a sound!" The families had been betrayed and theGrüne Polizeiarrested the people hidden at 263 Prinsengracht, as well as Kugler and Kleiman. The next day, Gies went to the German police office to try to find the arrestees. She offered money to buy their freedom but did not succeed. Gies and the other helpers could have been executed if they had been caught hiding Jews; however, she was not arrested because the police officer who came to interrogate her was fromVienna,her birth town. She recognized his accent and told him they had the same hometown. He was amazed, then started pacing and cursing at her, finally deciding to let her stay.Gies remained safe with her husband in Amsterdam throughout the rest of the war.

Before the hiding place was emptied by the authorities, Gies and the younger secretaryBep Voskuijlretrieved parts of Anne Frank's diaries and saved them in their desk drawer. Gies was determined to give them back to Anne. After the war had ended and it was confirmed that Anne Frank had perished in theBergen-Belsenconcentration camp, Gies gave the collection of papers and notebooks to the sole survivor from theSecret Annex,Otto Frank.After transcribing sections for his family, Frank was persuaded of the value of Anne’s account of their ordeal and arranged for the book's publication in 1947. Gies did not read the diaries before turning them over to Otto and later remarked that if she had, she would have had to destroy them because the papers contained the names of all five of the helpers as well as of theirblack-marketsuppliers. She was persuaded by Otto Frank to read the diary in its second printing.In 1947, Miep and Jan Gies moved to Jekerstraat 65, by theMerwedeplein,along with Otto Frank.

Miep Gies had assured Anne Frank's biographerMelissa Müllerrepeatedly that she did not think the main suspect, Willem van Maaren, was the culprit in the betrayal.

Honors and awards

Miep and Jan Gies with plaque, 1987

Miep and Jan Gies were recognised asRighteous Among the NationsbyYad Vashemon 8 March 1972.

In 1994, Gies was awarded theOrder of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germanyas well as theWallenberg Medalby theUniversity of Michigan.In 1997, she was knighted in theOrder of Orange-NassaubyQueen Beatrix of the Netherlands.Theminor planet99949 Miep Gies is named in her honor.She always maintained that while she appreciated the honors, they embarrassed her: "I am not a hero. I am not a special person. I don't want attention. I did what any decent person would have done."

On 30 July 2009, the Austrian Ambassador to the Netherlands, Wolfgang Paul, presented theGrand Decoration of Honour for Services to the Republic of Austriato Gies at her home.

Death and legacy

On 11 January 2010, Gies died, aged 100, in the city ofHoornafter suffering injuries from a fall.

Gies was interviewed about her memories of hiding the Frank family for the 1995 documentary filmAnne Frank RememberedbyJon Blair.Miep Gies' story was adapted into a televisionminiseriescalledA Small Light.It was released in 2023;Bel Powleyportrays Gies.

Further reading

• Flitner, Bettina:Frauen mit Visionen – 48 Europäerinnen (Women with visions – 48 Europeans).With text byAlice Schwarzer.Munich: Knesebeck, 2004.ISBN3-89660-211-X,88–95 p.
• Anne Frank (2003). David Barnouw; Gerrold Van der Stroom (eds.).The Diary of Anne Frank: The Revised Critical Edition.Translated byArnold J. Pomerans.Compiled by H. J. J. Hardy. (second ed.). Doubleday.
• Miep Gies; Alison Leslie Gold (1988).Anne Frank Remembered.Simon and Schuster.
• Carol Ann Lee (1999).Roses from the Earth: the Biography of Anne Frank.Penguin.
• Melissa Müller (1999).Anne Frank: the Biography.Foreword by Miep Gies. Bloomsbury.
• Carol Ann Lee (2002).The Hidden Life of Otto Frank.Penguin.
• Joop van Wijk-Voskuijl; Jeroen De Bruyn (2023).The Last Secret of the Secret Annex: The Untold Story of Anne Frank, Her Silent Protector, and a Family Betrayal.Simon and Schuster.{{cite book}}:CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)ISBN9781982198213

External links

• Official website of Miep Gies (English)
• Miep GiesatIMDb
• Profile of Miep Gies from the Anne Frank Museum
• Miep Gies– her activity to save Jews' lives during theHolocaust,atYad Vashemwebsite
• Holocaust Rescuers Bibliography with information and links to books about Miep Gies and other Dutch rescuers
• Miep Gies-Daily Telegraphobituary