Tuesday, January 12, 2010
The Last Protector Has Gone.
She was the last of a group of Dutch citizens who tried to protect 8 Jews from the Nazis during World War 2. Although they failed in their task, she did manage to preserve their memory.
Miep Gies, who ensured the diary of Anne Frank did not fall into the hands of Nazis after the teen's arrest, has died. She was 100.Gies was among a team of Dutch citizens who hid the Frank family of four and four others in a secret annex in Amsterdam, Netherlands, during World War II, according to her official Web site, which announced her death Monday. She worked as a secretary for Anne Frank's father, Otto, in the front side of the same Prinsengracht building.
The family stayed in the secret room from July 1942 until August 4, 1944, when they were arrested by Gestapo and Dutch police after being betrayed by an informant. Two of Gies' team were arrested that day, but she and her friend, Bep Voskuijl, were left behind -- and found 14-year-old Anne's papers.
"And there Bep and I saw Anne's diary papers lying on the floor. I said, 'Pick them up!' Bep stood there staring, frozen. I said, 'Pick them up! Pick them up!' We were afraid, but we did out best to collect all the papers," Gies said in a 1998 interview with The Anne Frank House in Amsterdam.
"Then we went downstairs. And there we stood, Bep and I. I asked, 'What now, Bep?' She answered, 'You're the oldest. You hold on to them. So I did."...
Go read more on this amazing woman here.
1 comment:
Did you know that Miep and her husband protected more people than the ones in the secret annex? They each had other people that they secretly provided for. They didn't even tell each other of their activities. Miep has always been one of my most admired women. I will remember and honor her always.
Sylvia
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