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Anne Frank Remembered: The Story of the Woman Who Helped to Hide the Frank Family
The reminiscences of Miep Gies, the woman who hid the Frank family in Amsterdam during the Second World War, presents a vivid story of life under Nazi occupation.
256 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1987
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January 23, 2023
Miep Gies was one of Otto Frank's employees. She helped hide, feed, visit, and provide news to the Frank family and the others who were hidden for 25 months during the Holocaust.
Miep passed away in 2010 one month from her 101st birthday. She was an amazing person.
I listened to this audiobook on Libby (a free app with the entry of a public library card number). At the beginning, there is an interview with the co-author, Alison Leslie Gold that is fascinating. Alison became close with Miep and attended Miep's 100th birthday celebration.
This firsthand account of hiding the Frank family and others, as well as what daily life was like in Amsterdam during German occupation is gripping.
There is an updated Epilogue that discusses the various investigations that were undertaken to determine who betrayed the Franks. It does not include the more recent investigations that have occurred since Miep's death. Miep also shares things that the movie did not get right.
Highly recommend!
Miep passed away in 2010 one month from her 101st birthday. She was an amazing person.
I listened to this audiobook on Libby (a free app with the entry of a public library card number). At the beginning, there is an interview with the co-author, Alison Leslie Gold that is fascinating. Alison became close with Miep and attended Miep's 100th birthday celebration.
This firsthand account of hiding the Frank family and others, as well as what daily life was like in Amsterdam during German occupation is gripping.
There is an updated Epilogue that discusses the various investigations that were undertaken to determine who betrayed the Franks. It does not include the more recent investigations that have occurred since Miep's death. Miep also shares things that the movie did not get right.
Highly recommend!
September 10, 2016
If a person has heard Miep Gies speak, this book is extactly like her speech. She may have a co-author, but her voice comes though loud and clear.
Like the documentry about Anne Frank, this book does much in dispelling some of the myths that surrond the Frank family and thier assoicates. In many ways, Otto and Anne Frank still dominant the book. In part, this is because Gies had a closer relationship to Mr. Frank, and in part because of the popularity of Anne Frank's diary. Gies, however, brings a different prespective to several of the attic residents. The Van Danns become more just Anne's fighting couple and are shown to be as intelligent and as generous as the Franks. Gies points out that Anne's diary was lucky enough to surive, while Margot's was not. She shows that Edith Frank was willing, encouraged, her husband and children to escape to America, even if it meant living her behind.
Gies expresses regret over how some of the residents, in particular Dussel, where protrayed in various film versions.
Additionally, Gies presents a good look at Amsterdam and the Netherlands during the war. From the mention of Rotterdam's destruction at the bombs of the Germans to Radio Orange to the struggle to find food, Gies paints a picture of life without getting bogged down in details. Even today, one can still see the Dutch anger at the Germans as evidenced by the party Rotterdam threw when Amsterdam's Ajax beat a German team for the Champions League crown.
The reader is also given examples of the fates other Jewish residents, some who managed to go into hiding, some who did not. Gies and her husband, Jan (Henk), were far more heroic than any read of the diary knows.
There is no hubris in the story, and one has to wonder if Gies wrote because of her desire to set the record straight and to prove to all the slanderers that the diary recorded real life. The epilogue is one of the few places were she really sounds angry about those people.
Recently, historians have pointed out that stories such Gies' makes it sound as if the Dutch were far more subversive and saved more Jews than they actually did. Gies doesn't claim to speak for her country. In fact, she makes it quite clear that there was a large amount of betrayal going on, especially when food became hard to get. She mentions problems about what to do when someone in hiding dies.
While she never states the fact that she didn't have a child during the war, one wonders if the childless statue of Gies and her husband made it easier for them to risk helping people. She never says, but the question hangs in the shadows of some passages.
This isn't to miminalize her bravery or the bravery of the other helpers who did so much because it was the right thing to do. It simply, like the book, makes us consider the wider picture.
Like the documentry about Anne Frank, this book does much in dispelling some of the myths that surrond the Frank family and thier assoicates. In many ways, Otto and Anne Frank still dominant the book. In part, this is because Gies had a closer relationship to Mr. Frank, and in part because of the popularity of Anne Frank's diary. Gies, however, brings a different prespective to several of the attic residents. The Van Danns become more just Anne's fighting couple and are shown to be as intelligent and as generous as the Franks. Gies points out that Anne's diary was lucky enough to surive, while Margot's was not. She shows that Edith Frank was willing, encouraged, her husband and children to escape to America, even if it meant living her behind.
Gies expresses regret over how some of the residents, in particular Dussel, where protrayed in various film versions.
Additionally, Gies presents a good look at Amsterdam and the Netherlands during the war. From the mention of Rotterdam's destruction at the bombs of the Germans to Radio Orange to the struggle to find food, Gies paints a picture of life without getting bogged down in details. Even today, one can still see the Dutch anger at the Germans as evidenced by the party Rotterdam threw when Amsterdam's Ajax beat a German team for the Champions League crown.
The reader is also given examples of the fates other Jewish residents, some who managed to go into hiding, some who did not. Gies and her husband, Jan (Henk), were far more heroic than any read of the diary knows.
There is no hubris in the story, and one has to wonder if Gies wrote because of her desire to set the record straight and to prove to all the slanderers that the diary recorded real life. The epilogue is one of the few places were she really sounds angry about those people.
Recently, historians have pointed out that stories such Gies' makes it sound as if the Dutch were far more subversive and saved more Jews than they actually did. Gies doesn't claim to speak for her country. In fact, she makes it quite clear that there was a large amount of betrayal going on, especially when food became hard to get. She mentions problems about what to do when someone in hiding dies.
While she never states the fact that she didn't have a child during the war, one wonders if the childless statue of Gies and her husband made it easier for them to risk helping people. She never says, but the question hangs in the shadows of some passages.
This isn't to miminalize her bravery or the bravery of the other helpers who did so much because it was the right thing to do. It simply, like the book, makes us consider the wider picture.
August 25, 2022
one of the best books i ever read for school. that's all i have to say.
part of a series i'm doing in which i review books i read a long time ago
part of a series i'm doing in which i review books i read a long time ago
August 31, 2009
“I am not a hero. 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.
More than twenty thousand Dutch people helped to hide Jews and others in need of hiding during those years. I willingly did what I could to help. My husband did as well. It was not enough.” (from the prologue.)
This is not a new book, but one of those to which I return. I even like holding it in my hands and just looking at the name of the woman whose journey it reveals: Miep Gies.
Miep is the woman who, with her husband Jan Gies, helped hide Anne Frank from the Nazis. Like so many young Jewish girls growing up I was more than a little obsessed with stories from the Holocaust; especially The Diary of Anne Frank. At the time she wrote in her diary, she was probably only a bit older than I was at the time I read the book, so, of course, I walked in her shoes. It certainly didn’t seem long enough ago to not think about her as me, and me as her.
Was there a Jewish child growing up anywhere in the world who didn’t think what if? Some, I imagine, averted their thoughts from the events of WWII and pretended it was all as far away as the Roman Empire. Others, went through life compulsively reading about it, breathing the lives of those who’d lived through it and those who had lost their lives.
On top of the obvious victims, were the other victims—those who were forced to witness the atrocity, those who participated. After visiting the Holocaust Museum in Washington DC, and I paraphrase here, what my husband and I remembered most deeply, were the audio-taped words of a survivor. In speaking about his experience in a concentration camp, he related a story of being berated by a fellow internee for praying.
“Why are you thanking God?” he was asked.
“I am thanking him for not making me him,” the man said, pointing to a guard.
It is horror without relief to have been a slave, a concentration camp internee, and a victim in Darfur. It is another horror, to have been the victimizer.
Books like this, they always make me wonder, given the circumstances, on which side would I end up? We read the books, we watch the movies, and we assume we’d have the courage of the righteous, but I believe it bears remembering how brave people like Miep Gies had to be, and to remember all the Miep and Jams out there today. I pray that given the circumstances, we’d follow their path.
More than twenty thousand Dutch people helped to hide Jews and others in need of hiding during those years. I willingly did what I could to help. My husband did as well. It was not enough.” (from the prologue.)
This is not a new book, but one of those to which I return. I even like holding it in my hands and just looking at the name of the woman whose journey it reveals: Miep Gies.
Miep is the woman who, with her husband Jan Gies, helped hide Anne Frank from the Nazis. Like so many young Jewish girls growing up I was more than a little obsessed with stories from the Holocaust; especially The Diary of Anne Frank. At the time she wrote in her diary, she was probably only a bit older than I was at the time I read the book, so, of course, I walked in her shoes. It certainly didn’t seem long enough ago to not think about her as me, and me as her.
Was there a Jewish child growing up anywhere in the world who didn’t think what if? Some, I imagine, averted their thoughts from the events of WWII and pretended it was all as far away as the Roman Empire. Others, went through life compulsively reading about it, breathing the lives of those who’d lived through it and those who had lost their lives.
On top of the obvious victims, were the other victims—those who were forced to witness the atrocity, those who participated. After visiting the Holocaust Museum in Washington DC, and I paraphrase here, what my husband and I remembered most deeply, were the audio-taped words of a survivor. In speaking about his experience in a concentration camp, he related a story of being berated by a fellow internee for praying.
“Why are you thanking God?” he was asked.
“I am thanking him for not making me him,” the man said, pointing to a guard.
It is horror without relief to have been a slave, a concentration camp internee, and a victim in Darfur. It is another horror, to have been the victimizer.
Books like this, they always make me wonder, given the circumstances, on which side would I end up? We read the books, we watch the movies, and we assume we’d have the courage of the righteous, but I believe it bears remembering how brave people like Miep Gies had to be, and to remember all the Miep and Jams out there today. I pray that given the circumstances, we’d follow their path.
July 22, 2023
I read this several years ago, before a trip to Amsterdam and to the Anne Frank House. Reading it again, was, just as good as the first time. Yes, of course, it’s a heartbreaking and difficult read. We all know how it ends. Miep Gies and her husband were incredible, brave souls, who helped to hide the Frank family during WWII, and who provided food and comfort to them. I love Miep so much. I would give this book infinite stars if I could.
Many of you may have already seen the only film image of Anne Frank.
Jews in Hiding
“More than twenty thousand Dutch people helped to hide Jews and others in need of hiding during those years.”
Anne’s Bedroom
“Anne had glued her movie-star pictures onto her bedroom wall—Ray Milland; Greta Garbo; Norma Shearer; Ginger Rogers; Lily Bouwmeester, the Dutch actress; Heinz Rühmann, the German actor. Other pictures she liked: a big advertisement for our company’s jam-making process; Michelangelo’s Pietà a big pink rose; chimpanzees having a tea party; Princess Elizabeth of York; many, many cutouts of cuddly little babies. Anne liked cutouts of cute babies as much as she liked movie stars.”
After the War
“During the occupation, there had been just two kinds of Dutch people: those who collaborated and those who resisted. Political and religious and class differences had been forgotten. It was simply we Dutch against our German oppressor. After the liberation, the unity quickly disappeared and people again divided into groups and factions that were at odds with each other. Everyone returned to his old ways, to his own class, to his own political group. People had changed less than I would have thought.”
Many of you may have already seen the only film image of Anne Frank.
Jews in Hiding
“More than twenty thousand Dutch people helped to hide Jews and others in need of hiding during those years.”
Anne’s Bedroom
“Anne had glued her movie-star pictures onto her bedroom wall—Ray Milland; Greta Garbo; Norma Shearer; Ginger Rogers; Lily Bouwmeester, the Dutch actress; Heinz Rühmann, the German actor. Other pictures she liked: a big advertisement for our company’s jam-making process; Michelangelo’s Pietà a big pink rose; chimpanzees having a tea party; Princess Elizabeth of York; many, many cutouts of cuddly little babies. Anne liked cutouts of cute babies as much as she liked movie stars.”
After the War
“During the occupation, there had been just two kinds of Dutch people: those who collaborated and those who resisted. Political and religious and class differences had been forgotten. It was simply we Dutch against our German oppressor. After the liberation, the unity quickly disappeared and people again divided into groups and factions that were at odds with each other. Everyone returned to his old ways, to his own class, to his own political group. People had changed less than I would have thought.”
October 18, 2020
O que posso dizer sobre este livro incrível?
Muitas pessoas já conhecem a história de Anne Frank, mas neste caso é-nos apresentada num registo completamente diferente. Desta vez, vemos tudo a acontecer através dos olhos de Miep, a senhora que ajudou Anne e a sua família durante os anos em que estiveram escondidos.
No Diário de Anne Frank, lemos algo muito mais juvenil, uma visão do mundo muito mais inocente, com descobertas próprias da adolescência e uma réstia de esperança pela fim da guerra. Em A Mulher Que Escondeu Anne Frank, não acompanhamos esse crescimento de Anne tão de perto. O foco está mais voltado para o desenvolvimento da guerra, das mudanças e restrições que dia após dia foram sendo feitas, do limite de comida imposto a todos, das pessoas que foram desaparecendo sem deixar rasto, do desespero de quem viveu naqueles dias de puro terror.
Durante vários anos, Miep lutou pela sobrevivência de não uma, não duas, mas sim várias pessoas, mantendo-as escondidas, fazendo o que podia e correndo imensos riscos para que os dias de quem estava escondido custassem o menos possível a passar.
Não é novidade para ninguém que, infelizmente, a família de Anne acabou por ser descoberta e só sobreviveu o pai. Mesmo já sabendo isso de antemão, é completamente angustiante estar a ler e chegar ao dia em que o esconderijo foi descoberto, dia esse em que todos foram levados para os campos de concentração. Mas, para mim, foi ainda mais revoltante ter chegado ao momento em que a guerra acabou e perceber que aquelas pessoas já não existiam. Quer por motivos de doença, de trabalhos forcados, fosse pelo que fosse, foi cruel. E não foi cruel só porque esta história se foca numa criança, que se tornou adolescente, e ficou conhecida mundialmente devido ao seu diário. Foi cruel porque à medida que ia lendo este livro, ia pensando em todas as famílias que também estiveram escondidas e não escaparam, em todo o sofrimento que aqueles anos inevitavelmente provocaram a tanta, tanta gente. Mas, principalmente, e simbolicamente falando, em todas as Anne Frank que viveram aquele horror e não tiveram a oportunidade de viver as suas vidas.
Miep, já com idade avançada, deu um testemunho da forma mais real que a sua memória lhe permitiu (palavras da própria). A meu ver, isso foi muito importante uma vez que esclareceu muitos pormenores relativamente a datas e a especificidades relativas aos campos de concentração onde a família foi parar.
Ainda que Miep não se auto-intitule assim, foi sem dúvida uma heroína. Este livro, especialmente esta senhora, fez-me ter esperança na bondade, solidariedade e justiça das pessoas.
Para mim uma história sobre o Holocausto nunca será só mais uma sobre o tema e a acrescentar à lista, ainda para mais tratando-se particularmente desta história. É importante aprender com os erros, mas mais importante ainda é não voltar a comete-los.
Leiam este livro, é bom demais para ficar só na livraria.
Muitas pessoas já conhecem a história de Anne Frank, mas neste caso é-nos apresentada num registo completamente diferente. Desta vez, vemos tudo a acontecer através dos olhos de Miep, a senhora que ajudou Anne e a sua família durante os anos em que estiveram escondidos.
No Diário de Anne Frank, lemos algo muito mais juvenil, uma visão do mundo muito mais inocente, com descobertas próprias da adolescência e uma réstia de esperança pela fim da guerra. Em A Mulher Que Escondeu Anne Frank, não acompanhamos esse crescimento de Anne tão de perto. O foco está mais voltado para o desenvolvimento da guerra, das mudanças e restrições que dia após dia foram sendo feitas, do limite de comida imposto a todos, das pessoas que foram desaparecendo sem deixar rasto, do desespero de quem viveu naqueles dias de puro terror.
Durante vários anos, Miep lutou pela sobrevivência de não uma, não duas, mas sim várias pessoas, mantendo-as escondidas, fazendo o que podia e correndo imensos riscos para que os dias de quem estava escondido custassem o menos possível a passar.
Não é novidade para ninguém que, infelizmente, a família de Anne acabou por ser descoberta e só sobreviveu o pai. Mesmo já sabendo isso de antemão, é completamente angustiante estar a ler e chegar ao dia em que o esconderijo foi descoberto, dia esse em que todos foram levados para os campos de concentração. Mas, para mim, foi ainda mais revoltante ter chegado ao momento em que a guerra acabou e perceber que aquelas pessoas já não existiam. Quer por motivos de doença, de trabalhos forcados, fosse pelo que fosse, foi cruel. E não foi cruel só porque esta história se foca numa criança, que se tornou adolescente, e ficou conhecida mundialmente devido ao seu diário. Foi cruel porque à medida que ia lendo este livro, ia pensando em todas as famílias que também estiveram escondidas e não escaparam, em todo o sofrimento que aqueles anos inevitavelmente provocaram a tanta, tanta gente. Mas, principalmente, e simbolicamente falando, em todas as Anne Frank que viveram aquele horror e não tiveram a oportunidade de viver as suas vidas.
Miep, já com idade avançada, deu um testemunho da forma mais real que a sua memória lhe permitiu (palavras da própria). A meu ver, isso foi muito importante uma vez que esclareceu muitos pormenores relativamente a datas e a especificidades relativas aos campos de concentração onde a família foi parar.
Ainda que Miep não se auto-intitule assim, foi sem dúvida uma heroína. Este livro, especialmente esta senhora, fez-me ter esperança na bondade, solidariedade e justiça das pessoas.
Para mim uma história sobre o Holocausto nunca será só mais uma sobre o tema e a acrescentar à lista, ainda para mais tratando-se particularmente desta história. É importante aprender com os erros, mas mais importante ainda é não voltar a comete-los.
Leiam este livro, é bom demais para ficar só na livraria.
March 16, 2018
Anne Frank Remembered by Miep Gies & Alison Leslie Gold
Narrated by: Barbara Rosenblat
5 stars
Whimsical Writing Scale: 5
Character Scale: 5
Plotastic Scale: 5
Narration Scale: 5
Cover Thoughts: The cover is nice, but it’s weird to critique the portrait of a young girl who changed the world.
Narrated by: Barbara Rosenblat
5 stars
The story of Anne Frank has been told for many decades and is one that resonates with a lot of young people. Anne’s story of survival in the Annex of her father’s business along with her family, another family, and a doctor is famous for being a story of growth and hope. The world outside of the small prison keeping the Franks safe was horrifying and wrought with murder, starvation, and abuse. Miep Gies was one of the people who helped hide the Franks in the Annex and this is her story. We follow Miep as a young girl in Vienna, her love for the Dutch, her journey to become an official Dutch citizen during the Natzi regime, her relationship with the Franks (before, during, and after the war), her plight to feed the Franks and retain enough food for them as well as her and her husband, and the fear that lurked in her heart for the Franks and countless others she helped hide or knew were in hiding. I'm going to keep this review short because it's a nonfiction narrative I fidn those incredibly hard to review. This audiobook is fantastic. Rosenblat does a stellar job of capturing the emotions of Miep and those around her. It is important to note that this story will probably break your heart. Towards the end, I found myself crying a lot. My heart completely breaks for these people and the plights that were dealing with in the Annex and after in the camps. This story is just as important as Anne’s because we are seeing the work that went into hiding these people from the Nazi Regime and the horrors of concentration and death camps. This novel is filled with sorrow and I will admit it made me quite depressed, but it also filled me with hope for humanity. Miep Gies never once saw herself as a hero, she saw herself as someone trying to save her dear friends’ lives and that to me makes her one of the most heroic people in history. Her deep love for the Franks shined through this story and I was moved to laughter and to tears. This is a novel that I think everyone should read alongside The Diary of a Young Girl. It is important not only to history, but in inspiring people to put others before themselves.
Whimsical Writing Scale: 5
Character Scale: 5
Plotastic Scale: 5
Narration Scale: 5
Cover Thoughts: The cover is nice, but it’s weird to critique the portrait of a young girl who changed the world.
June 17, 2023
As a young girl, like many students I read Anne Frank's Diary. Why did I not read Miep's book? I have no good excuse. It was remarkable.
This was an indispensable account of the Frank family, written by the brave secretary of Anne's father, Otto Frank. It was Miep Gies and her husband, Jan, who hid Otto Frank, and his wife and daughters, as well as another family.
This firsthand account of everything Miep, Jan, and Otto's coworkers endured during the two years they hid eight Jewish individuals from the Nazi party, and what happened after Otto Frank and his family were arrested and taken to concentration camps.
It was a privilege learning about the details of how Miep met Otto Frank. This book provided an entirely different angle from which to get to know about each individual, and I am so grateful to have finally read this. To be quite honest, I'm rather embarrassed to have learned so much about the second World War in high school, college, and as an adult in recent decades - and yet I hadn't read Miep's publication until now.
If you haven't yet read it, and would like to get to know more about the Frank family, their friends, and the woman who took care of them in hiding (and remained close friends with Otto Frank for the remainder of his life, after he was released from the concentration camp at the end of the war), I highly recommend giving this a bit of your time. 4.5 stars easily. ~
This was an indispensable account of the Frank family, written by the brave secretary of Anne's father, Otto Frank. It was Miep Gies and her husband, Jan, who hid Otto Frank, and his wife and daughters, as well as another family.
This firsthand account of everything Miep, Jan, and Otto's coworkers endured during the two years they hid eight Jewish individuals from the Nazi party, and what happened after Otto Frank and his family were arrested and taken to concentration camps.
It was a privilege learning about the details of how Miep met Otto Frank. This book provided an entirely different angle from which to get to know about each individual, and I am so grateful to have finally read this. To be quite honest, I'm rather embarrassed to have learned so much about the second World War in high school, college, and as an adult in recent decades - and yet I hadn't read Miep's publication until now.
If you haven't yet read it, and would like to get to know more about the Frank family, their friends, and the woman who took care of them in hiding (and remained close friends with Otto Frank for the remainder of his life, after he was released from the concentration camp at the end of the war), I highly recommend giving this a bit of your time. 4.5 stars easily. ~
September 22, 2019
Para quem, como eu, tem O diário de Anne Frank como referência incontornável na sua vida de leitor(a) e para quem, como eu, sempre quis conhecer o outro lado, saber mais sobre essas pessoas (com traços de verdadeiros heróis) que ajudaram os 7 judeus que estiveram escondidos no Anexo, este livro é de leitura obrigatória.
Obrigada, Miep!
Opinião mais completa no sítio do costume, a partir do minuto: 10:00
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hiDnz...
Obrigada, Miep!
Opinião mais completa no sítio do costume, a partir do minuto: 10:00
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hiDnz...
June 9, 2012
Wow! This story will teach you everything you need to know about true friendship, loyalty, and fortitude. It's better than any novel of World War II.
September 28, 2019
9 de 10*
Anne Frank terá ficado conhecida pelos piores motivos. A menina que viveu fechada com a sua família no edifício que baptizaram de “Anexo”, escondidos dos nazis durante a ocupação da Holanda por parte das tropas de Hitler. Sem um final feliz, Anne Frank deixou como legado o seu diário, o caderno com que ocupou parte do seu tempo livre dentro do anexo. O diário foi transformado em livro e é mundialmente conhecido, assim como a história da pequena Anne Frank.
Comentário completo em:
https://abibliotecadajoao.blogspot.co...
Anne Frank terá ficado conhecida pelos piores motivos. A menina que viveu fechada com a sua família no edifício que baptizaram de “Anexo”, escondidos dos nazis durante a ocupação da Holanda por parte das tropas de Hitler. Sem um final feliz, Anne Frank deixou como legado o seu diário, o caderno com que ocupou parte do seu tempo livre dentro do anexo. O diário foi transformado em livro e é mundialmente conhecido, assim como a história da pequena Anne Frank.
Comentário completo em:
https://abibliotecadajoao.blogspot.co...
January 28, 2014
Simply fascinating, as I knew it would be.
Tears in my eyes as I read that Peter van Daan survived "The Auschwitz Death March"
(as did Elie Wiesel who documented that nightmare experience in the book "Night"),
only to die in Mauthausen on the same day that the camp was liberated by the Americans.
Tears in my eyes as I read that Peter van Daan survived "The Auschwitz Death March"
(as did Elie Wiesel who documented that nightmare experience in the book "Night"),
only to die in Mauthausen on the same day that the camp was liberated by the Americans.
February 3, 2018
What a moving and inspirational book. A definite must read for all.
July 2, 2011
This is one of those books that both breaks your heart and uplifts you at the same time. Miep Gies does not see herself and her husband as "heroes" but they most certainly are. They are the couple who helped hide Otto Franks' family in Holland during World War 2. His daughter Anne did not survive the Nazi concentration camp but her diary, her thoughts, her words, and her heart will live forever. It was through the actions of Miep Gies who first hid the Franks and then rescued and saved Anne's diary and later gave it to her father Otto that we know Anne's deepest, more heartfelt thoughts.
This book documents the story of Anne from just before she went into hiding until her death and even beyond when Otto Frank returned to live with Miep and her husband and received the now-famous diary. I could feel my heart pounding with fear as Miep took me back to those dangerous times and she herself was almost arrested and possibly executed for harboring Jews.
Please read this book. It is something that will remind you that some people on this planet are not selfish. There are compassionate people who will risk their lives for others and to do the right thing. They are not about profit and selfishness but about love for others and truly live out their love. Miep Gies is one of those people.
This book documents the story of Anne from just before she went into hiding until her death and even beyond when Otto Frank returned to live with Miep and her husband and received the now-famous diary. I could feel my heart pounding with fear as Miep took me back to those dangerous times and she herself was almost arrested and possibly executed for harboring Jews.
Please read this book. It is something that will remind you that some people on this planet are not selfish. There are compassionate people who will risk their lives for others and to do the right thing. They are not about profit and selfishness but about love for others and truly live out their love. Miep Gies is one of those people.
January 3, 2009
This is a book I discovered as a teenager and which soon became one of my all time favourites. Enthralled like so many others by Anne Frank’s diary, I was even more fascinated by Miep Gies’s account. So when the French television aired a new film version of the Diary a few weeks ago I hurriedly ordered a copy of Anne Frank Remembered on Amazon and dug into it as soon as it arrived.
Unfortunately I was at first disappointed as I found it difficult to get into. Having just finished The Kite Runner, a highly compelling read with which it is difficult to compete, was certainly partly to blame. But mostly I was surprised by the style of Miep’s account which I hadn’t remembered well. Having written it (shadow written with Alison Leslie Gold actually) as an old woman, she obviously didn’t remember everything. But she did have many very detailed memories of incidents and episodes. As a result, some parts of her book are more like a collection of memories than a continuous account. A paragraph might get into a very detailed description of an apparently insignificant incident and the next jump to another subject, leaving the reader to wonder were she is going.
At first therefore I struggled to remember what had kept me so enthralled as a young girl. But then, as the book progressed and I got more and more absorbed into it, I found that all these recollections connected to paint a most vivid and sharp image of those times: the fear, tragedies and losses; the small miracles; the every day acts of bravery of those who fought against the Nazis with their meagre mean; the short moments of joyous reprieve when a cup of real coffee, or a whole tray of strawberries, was found; the moments of despair and those of hope… Mostly, it shows the absurdity of those times when “thieves were safe but Jews were not” : how far the hatred went, how much the people changed, how deep everyone fell… and how despite all this life went on, those who had a job continued to go to work everyday and the Frank business ran all through the war.
In her diary Anne paints a unique picture of what it was like to grow up as a hidden Jewish young girl. Miep shows the rest. Once a refugee in the Netherlands, where she was sent by her Austrian family after WW1 (to be fed and safe), she witnessed how her adoptive country first became a safe haven for German Jews when Hitler came to power, before falling as well into his hands. And she tells us of the Frank’s journey from their arrival in Amsterdam in 1933 to Otto’s life after the war.
All in all, I find it to be an amazing read and a great companion to Anne’s diary and would highly recommend it!
Unfortunately I was at first disappointed as I found it difficult to get into. Having just finished The Kite Runner, a highly compelling read with which it is difficult to compete, was certainly partly to blame. But mostly I was surprised by the style of Miep’s account which I hadn’t remembered well. Having written it (shadow written with Alison Leslie Gold actually) as an old woman, she obviously didn’t remember everything. But she did have many very detailed memories of incidents and episodes. As a result, some parts of her book are more like a collection of memories than a continuous account. A paragraph might get into a very detailed description of an apparently insignificant incident and the next jump to another subject, leaving the reader to wonder were she is going.
At first therefore I struggled to remember what had kept me so enthralled as a young girl. But then, as the book progressed and I got more and more absorbed into it, I found that all these recollections connected to paint a most vivid and sharp image of those times: the fear, tragedies and losses; the small miracles; the every day acts of bravery of those who fought against the Nazis with their meagre mean; the short moments of joyous reprieve when a cup of real coffee, or a whole tray of strawberries, was found; the moments of despair and those of hope… Mostly, it shows the absurdity of those times when “thieves were safe but Jews were not” : how far the hatred went, how much the people changed, how deep everyone fell… and how despite all this life went on, those who had a job continued to go to work everyday and the Frank business ran all through the war.
In her diary Anne paints a unique picture of what it was like to grow up as a hidden Jewish young girl. Miep shows the rest. Once a refugee in the Netherlands, where she was sent by her Austrian family after WW1 (to be fed and safe), she witnessed how her adoptive country first became a safe haven for German Jews when Hitler came to power, before falling as well into his hands. And she tells us of the Frank’s journey from their arrival in Amsterdam in 1933 to Otto’s life after the war.
All in all, I find it to be an amazing read and a great companion to Anne’s diary and would highly recommend it!
September 17, 2017
Miep foi uma das pessoas que mais ajudou os moradores do anexo secreto onde Anne Frank ficou escondida. Ela além de trabalhar normalmente no escritório onde ficava o esconderijo, fazia o impossível para conseguir comida e tudo que os moradores escondidos precisavam. Seu esposo também através de um grupo secreto ajudava com cupons de racionamento que eram obtidos no mercado negro e eram trocados por alimentos. Neste livro Miep Gies conta sua história, tudo o que viveu naquela época sombria de guerra. Ela participou de todos os eventos e fatos importantes relacionados à Anne Frank; Esteve quando a família Frank foi para o esconderijo, foi ela que foi rendida no dia que a família frank foi presa, Foi Miep que recolheu e guardou o Diário de Anne Frank .
Um livro magistral dessa heroína que morreu recentemente com mais de 100 anos !!!
Um livro magistral dessa heroína que morreu recentemente com mais de 100 anos !!!
January 22, 2020
Um livro fabuloso que nos mostra as vivéncias e o dia-a-dia de um cidadão comum na Holanda ocupada, durante a 2a Guerra Mundial.
A vida de Miep Gies, uma das amigas mais próximas dos Frank, que os ajudou durante os 25 meses de clandestinidade no Anexo, e que enfrentou inúmeras dificuldades ao longo de 5 anos de ocupação. Desde a infância pobre em Viena, a ida para a Holanda, até ao fim da guerra, ficamos a conhecer melhor uma mulher corajosa e determinada, que ajudou dezenas de pessoas, e lutou contra a injustiça e a presença opressora do inimigo.
Um livro imperdível!
A vida de Miep Gies, uma das amigas mais próximas dos Frank, que os ajudou durante os 25 meses de clandestinidade no Anexo, e que enfrentou inúmeras dificuldades ao longo de 5 anos de ocupação. Desde a infância pobre em Viena, a ida para a Holanda, até ao fim da guerra, ficamos a conhecer melhor uma mulher corajosa e determinada, que ajudou dezenas de pessoas, e lutou contra a injustiça e a presença opressora do inimigo.
Um livro imperdível!
December 3, 2017
I am not a hero. 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. . . . I willingly did what I could to help. My husband did as well. It was not enough.There is nothing special about me. . . . I was only willing to do what was asked of me and what seemed necessary at the time. . . . My story is a story of very ordinary people during extraordinarily terrible times. Times the like of which I hope with all my heart will never, never come again. It is for all of us ordinary people all over the world to see to it that they do not. (11-12)This autobiography by Miep Gies is quietly amazing. It is an excellent companion to Anne Frank's diary. The narrative in Gies's memoir is not directly linked to particular days Anne wrote about, but readers familiar with the diary will see some clear connections.
One of the things that's special about Gies's book is how it fills out the picture of what was happening when the Franks and others were in hiding. Reading only Anne's diary, one can get the feeling that life outside of the Annex was going on as normal. But Gies shows the increasing pressure that everyone in Amsterdam was under in those years. The details from Gies's story are overwhelming, and the last 50 pages of her book are hard to put down.
Of course, the biggest gap that Gies fills is the one that Anne's diary couldn't: What happened on that day? It's gripping, terrifying, and heartbreaking.
For me, the most impressive aspect of this story is what Gies summarizes in the quote above, from the preface to the book: that she was an ordinary person making the best choices she could in dark times. I love seeing Gies's character as she steadily pushes forward, speaking and taking action based on compassion. The same is true of her husband, Henk, who must also have been an incredible person. I was grateful for this reminder, through Miep's story, that who we become is based on those little choices we make every day. May I become a compassionate, wise person through my daily choices.
December 2, 2019
Este livro traz-nos a história da Miep, todo o seu percurso de vida - que no meu ponto de vista é bastante interessante - até ao momento em que conhece Otto Frank e a sua família. A partir daqui, e numa perspetiva diferente, é-nos dada a oportunidade de apreender o outro lado. Para além de Miep, são-nos apresentadas todas as pessoas que ajudaram a família Frank, os Van Pelses e o Dr. Fritz Pfeffer, durante todo o tempo que permaneceram escondidos no anexo. É-nos igualmente revelado como era conseguida a comida “necessária” para as oito pessoas que dividiam aquele espaço exíguo e completamente claustrofóbico, a forma como eram organizadas as visitas, para que não se sentissem tão sós e o momento em que foram descobertos. Temos ainda a percepção de como se vivia na Holanda durante a guerra e depois do seu término. O regresso de Otto Frank e a recuperação do diário da sua filha, que foi resgatado e guardado por Miep, na esperança de o entregar à sua dona legítima. A sua publicação, de início com a total oposição do seu pai, mas que depois de muita persuasão, acabou por ceder, deixando-nos um testemunho importantíssimo sobre a situação dos Judeus, durante a Segunda Guerra Mundial. ⠀
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“Uma ou duas vezes na vida, há uma troca de olhares entre duas pessoas que não pode ser descrita em palavras. Nós partilhamos esse olhar.” - Pág. 88 ⠀
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Este é, obviamente, um livro que recomendo muito e que deverá ser lido após “O Diário de Anne Frank”
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“Uma ou duas vezes na vida, há uma troca de olhares entre duas pessoas que não pode ser descrita em palavras. Nós partilhamos esse olhar.” - Pág. 88 ⠀
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Este é, obviamente, um livro que recomendo muito e que deverá ser lido após “O Diário de Anne Frank”
July 13, 2021
This memoir of Miep Gies is a beautiful addition to Anne Frank's diary, and with the stuff I knew from Anne Frank's diary, the stuff I saw at the museum, history classes, etc. a more complete view from the events before, during and after the hiding. Gies tells how she ended up in the Netherlands to how she ended up meeting Otto Frank, all stories I didn't know, which were very interesting to hear.
Gies also wanted to clear the air about any sort of rumors that were going around about her or anyone else mentioned in the book. I respect her for standing her ground and saying the stuff she had to say.
I have a lot of amazing words for this woman, but as she described in this book, she doesn't call herself a hero, so I won't either. However, Miep Gies is a name I will always carry with me, as she's an incredible woman.
Gies also wanted to clear the air about any sort of rumors that were going around about her or anyone else mentioned in the book. I respect her for standing her ground and saying the stuff she had to say.
I have a lot of amazing words for this woman, but as she described in this book, she doesn't call herself a hero, so I won't either. However, Miep Gies is a name I will always carry with me, as she's an incredible woman.
December 4, 2024
I recently reread, "The Diary of Anne Frank" and while it is a very moving and wonderful journal it left me with so many questions about how the hiding place really worked out for so many months. The answer is Miep Gies. Now she was an amazing woman. Vienna born and Dutch by marriage she was a good friend to the Frank family and worked in Otto Frank's pectin store front for many years before they went into hiding. She shopped and came for visits and offered comfort and support to the people in the annex daily. Some days she would have to shop for hours before she found enough food with all the shortages and rationing to feed the group. Her husband Henk was a member of the resistance party and they had a Jew hiding in their own apartment rooms too. I was just amazed at how devoted she (and the few other office workers who knew) was to those in her care. The business was changed into one of the office workers names so that it could continue to flourish even during the war. Mr. Frank would still make plans and decisions from the annex and Anne and Margot would come down at night and do office work for Miep and Elli (an office girl). Miep talks about the day the whole group was arrested and how she and Henk even twenty plus years later still observed a day of silence in memory of their friends. Miep went to Nazi headquarters and met with the highest ranked Nazi available and asked to buy the Franks back with no luck right after they were arrested. When Mr. Frank was released he lived with Miep, Henk, and their son Paul for eight years before he moved and remarried. During this time he was distributing Anne's diary which Miep had illegally recovered from the annex the day they were arrested. She kept all the pages in an unlocked drawer in her office desk and never looked at them. She safely returned them to Mr. Frank the day he was sent word that Anne and Margot had died in the prison camp. Such an inspiring woman and book.
July 28, 2019
Det behövs fler människor som Miep <3
October 10, 2024
Miep Gies werd in 1909 in Wenen geboren en kwam als elfjarig meisje in 1920 naar Nederland waar zij in een pleeggezin werd opgenomen. In de jaren dertig ging zij werken bij een bedrijf dat ingrediënten verkocht om onder meer jam te maken. De directeur van dit bedrijf was Otto Frank. Zijn vrouw en dochters Margot en Anne woonden eerst nog in Duitsland maar kwamen later ook naar Amsterdam. Zo leerde Miep de familie Frank en de later beroemd geworden Anne Frank goed kennen. In het dagboek van Anne Frank wordt het leven in de onderduik in het Achterhuis beschreven, in het boek van Miep Gies gaan de eerste honderd bladzijden over de periode daarvoor. Eind jaren dertig leidde het gezin Frank een gewoon leven, de kinderen gingen naar school en speelden op straat. Na de bezetting door de Duitsers werden de joden stap voor stap geïsoleerd en vernederd, het werken werd hen onmogelijk gemaakt, Joodse kinderen moesten ineens naar het Joods Lyceum, joden en niet joden mochten niet meer met elkaar omgaan. Miep Gies was zelf niet Joods maar voelde zich wel sterk betrokken bij de familie Frank. Toen de familie Frank eenmaal moest onderduiken zorgde zij voor de aanvoer van eten en andere noodzakelijke spullen. Bij de toenemende schaarste werd dat steeds lastiger. De naam ‘ het Achterhuis’ is door Anne Frank zelf bedacht. Het lag boven het bedrijfskantoor, achter een ingang die werd gecamoufleerd door een kast met ordners. Miep kwam regelmatig in het Achterhuis en heeft er een enkele maal ook gelogeerd in de kamer van Anne en Margot. Ze vierde er ook haar verjaardag waarvoor Anne de menukaart schreef. Het onderduiken was riskant, jodenjagers konden geld verdienen door joden aan te geven. Enkele malen werd er ingebroken in het pand aan de Prinsengracht. Ze hebben het lang volgehouden maar uiteindelijk was er die fatale dag, 4 augustus 1944 dat Duitsers en Nederlandse handlangers het pand binnenvielen en de bewoners van het Achterhuis in een busje werden geladen en werden weggevoerd. Anne, haar oudere zusje Margot en hun moeder Edith kwamen in Duitsland om, Otto overleefde de oorlog. Miep Gies wist dat Anne dagboeken bijhield en zij heeft deze vlak na de inval in veiligheid weten te brengen. Ze lagen in haar bureaula. Toen Otto Frank in 1945 terugkwam gaf ze de dagboeken aan hem en op advies van de historicus Jan Romein is het dagboek van Anne Frank uitgegeven. Miep Gies is de hele oorlogsperiode en daarna nog tot 1947 in het bedrijf van Otto Frank blijven werken. Op 40 jarige leeftijd werd zij zelf moeder van een zoon.
Tot de dood van Otto Frank in 1980 is zij contact met hem blijven houden. Het beheer van de nalatenschap van Anne, het wereldwijd beroemd geworden dagboek was toen hun belangrijkste taak geworden. In 1987 verscheen het boek ‘herinneringen aan Anne Frank’, geschreven door Miep Gies en ghostwriter Alison Leslie Gold.
Miep Gies overleed in 2010, op honderdjarige leeftijd. Op internet zijn interviews met haar te vinden, ook over dit boek.
Het is een bijzonder waardevolle aanvulling op het dagboek van Anne Frank.
Tot de dood van Otto Frank in 1980 is zij contact met hem blijven houden. Het beheer van de nalatenschap van Anne, het wereldwijd beroemd geworden dagboek was toen hun belangrijkste taak geworden. In 1987 verscheen het boek ‘herinneringen aan Anne Frank’, geschreven door Miep Gies en ghostwriter Alison Leslie Gold.
Miep Gies overleed in 2010, op honderdjarige leeftijd. Op internet zijn interviews met haar te vinden, ook over dit boek.
Het is een bijzonder waardevolle aanvulling op het dagboek van Anne Frank.
February 15, 2015
I read The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank some time ago, and purchased this one last year. I am so glad I have finally read it…it gives the other perspective completely on this heart-breaking story.
From the World Socialist Web Site on her death at age 101 – 15.2.1909 – 10.1.2010
http://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2010/...
“Meip Gies was born February 15, 1909, as Hermine Santrouschitz in Vienna. Her impoverished parents were barely able to feed their daughter due to the economic conditions, and sent her to the Netherlands in 1922 as part of an aid project. Her host family, who went on to adopt Hermine, gave her the nickname Miep.
In 1933, the young woman took up a job as an office assistant in the spice business of Otto Frank, who had emigrated to the Netherlands with his family following the Nazi takeover. After refusing to join a Nazi women’s organization in 1941, Miep only escaped deportation to Austria by marrying her Dutch friend Jan Gies.”
Meip’s new husband (named Henk in the books for the purpose of privacy) and Meip were not Jews, so therefore were supposedly protected from persecution. But the horrors the Nazis landed on most people (not just the Jews) in their little village after the occupation of the Netherlands in 1940 was shattering. Once Otto Frank and his family went into hiding on 5th July 1942, Meip, Henk and four others of Otto’s staff, were the ones totally in charge of the family and their safety; they provided food, news, books, blank paper for Anne and Margot, and cheerfulness in the face of their isolation…over the period of the next two years, the only faces the Frank family, plus another family also in hiding with them, saw, were Meip’s and Henk’s.
The incredible courage displayed by Meip and Henk over extreme diversity is amazing. The outrage they felt at the treatment their friends and the thousands of others, caused them to take many risks with their own safety, but with the end in sight, and the Allies not far away, the hidden families were betrayed by an unknown person for a total of only 60 guldens…a very small amount!
I highly recommend this book, written by a brave human being who lived a long and fulfilling life…only passing away in January of 2010. The atrocities of the German Nazis will hopefully never be repeated!
From the World Socialist Web Site on her death at age 101 – 15.2.1909 – 10.1.2010
http://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2010/...
“Meip Gies was born February 15, 1909, as Hermine Santrouschitz in Vienna. Her impoverished parents were barely able to feed their daughter due to the economic conditions, and sent her to the Netherlands in 1922 as part of an aid project. Her host family, who went on to adopt Hermine, gave her the nickname Miep.
In 1933, the young woman took up a job as an office assistant in the spice business of Otto Frank, who had emigrated to the Netherlands with his family following the Nazi takeover. After refusing to join a Nazi women’s organization in 1941, Miep only escaped deportation to Austria by marrying her Dutch friend Jan Gies.”
Meip’s new husband (named Henk in the books for the purpose of privacy) and Meip were not Jews, so therefore were supposedly protected from persecution. But the horrors the Nazis landed on most people (not just the Jews) in their little village after the occupation of the Netherlands in 1940 was shattering. Once Otto Frank and his family went into hiding on 5th July 1942, Meip, Henk and four others of Otto’s staff, were the ones totally in charge of the family and their safety; they provided food, news, books, blank paper for Anne and Margot, and cheerfulness in the face of their isolation…over the period of the next two years, the only faces the Frank family, plus another family also in hiding with them, saw, were Meip’s and Henk’s.
The incredible courage displayed by Meip and Henk over extreme diversity is amazing. The outrage they felt at the treatment their friends and the thousands of others, caused them to take many risks with their own safety, but with the end in sight, and the Allies not far away, the hidden families were betrayed by an unknown person for a total of only 60 guldens…a very small amount!
I highly recommend this book, written by a brave human being who lived a long and fulfilling life…only passing away in January of 2010. The atrocities of the German Nazis will hopefully never be repeated!
November 1, 2020
4.5 Stars
I'm told that every night when the sun goes down, somewhere in the world the curtain is going up on the stage play made from Anne's diary
This book has been on my TBR for the longest time and as someone who absolutely adores Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl I knew that this was something I had to read. When we read about Anne's story, we always read it from Anne's perspective, so I found it so refreshing to read this part of history from another pair of eyes; Miep's. It was so interesting to read about her life and her thoughts during this time in her life; she is hiding Jewish people despite knowing the consequences could mean death.
Anne Frank Remembered is emotional, real, and raw. It's something to read if you devoured and adored Anne Frank's Diary
I'm told that every night when the sun goes down, somewhere in the world the curtain is going up on the stage play made from Anne's diary
This book has been on my TBR for the longest time and as someone who absolutely adores Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl I knew that this was something I had to read. When we read about Anne's story, we always read it from Anne's perspective, so I found it so refreshing to read this part of history from another pair of eyes; Miep's. It was so interesting to read about her life and her thoughts during this time in her life; she is hiding Jewish people despite knowing the consequences could mean death.
Anne Frank Remembered is emotional, real, and raw. It's something to read if you devoured and adored Anne Frank's Diary
February 7, 2018
I really enjoyed getting this backstory on the Frank family and their friends. Haunting read, but anything concerning Anne Frank always is.
December 26, 2015
Ever since I was a little girl, I've had a fascination with European history. In particular, the first and second world wars interested me to no end. When I was nine years old, I was first introduced to the Holocaust in my fourth grade class. Every week, we were required to read a story out of an anthology and would study that story. These were sometimes short stories, sometimes excerpts from novels, and sometimes a retelling of historical events (I could recall that earlier that year we read about the first successful open heart surgery in the same anthology). It was through this collection of stories that I first read about Anne Frank, taken from the last diary entries she wrote before going into hiding and the first she wrote while there. The story didn't stick with me much until the following year, when I spotted The Diary of a Young Girl in our monthly book orders. I requested a copy from my mother and devoured it upon its arrival.
At the age of ten, I was obsessed with Anne Frank and her story. I spent countless hours researching the Holocaust and what happened to Anne and her family. I slowed down our family computer by downloading every picture of Anne I could find online and bookmarking any website that had new information about my new favorite person. It was because of Anne and her diary that I found my own love of writing, and decided shortly after I started reading the diary that I wanted to be a novelist (which remains to this day my biggest life goal and dream). From the ages of ten to fourteen, Anne Frank ruled my life.
It must have been around this time that I received a copy of Miep Gies' story. I never read it until this year, when somehow, the story of Anne Frank and the Holocaust popped back into my head. I found this book setting dejectedly on my bookshelf.
For anyone thinking about reading this book, be forewarned: it touches upon a lot of what Anne already covered in her diary. I feel odd putting historical events in spoiler warning tags, but just in case, But there are parts detailing Miep's own story, about how she came to the Netherlands due to food shortages, just how she came to work for Otto Frank and how the hiding plan was introduced to her; how she met her husband, a story of her hiding people in her own home besides the eight in the famous Secret Annex, and yes, details of the inevitable arrest and following events.
We don't gain a lot of Anne's story in this, so the title was a bit misleading. However, Miep does tell a story that, to people interested in the history, is endlessly fascinating to read about. The story is of course sad, and it did bring tears to my eyes a couple times. Miep had fears that even Anne didn't dare mention in her diary. It was haunting to read about the night that Miep spent in the hiding place with the Franks, as well as when she wrote about people in other hiding places who died before they could be freed.
Miep's story is a haunting tribute to one of the most atrocious historical events that has ever occurred. If you are at all interested in history or in the story of Anne Frank, it is a must read. There's not a lot to be gained about Anne, but it is worth a read. It offers a unique perspective of what happened on the Prinsengracht canal and elsewhere.
One last note, in response to other reviews that I have read of Miep's story:
Someone said that all Miep was concerned about during the early days of the war was getting married. I don't think that this is actually a fair assessment of Miep's desire to get married to her husband. In fact, I'd venture to say that this person actually didn't read the story at all. This was the early days of the war, when people just didn't know what was going to happen to them. They had no idea what was going to transpire in just a few short years. Of course people thought about themselves. Also, if Miep and Jan (referred to as Henk in Anne's diary and Miep's story) didn't get married, she would have been forced to leave the Netherlands and return to Austria, which she had already said didn't feel like home to her anymore. Tell me how much you'd like it if you were being forcibly removed from your home country and shipped somewhere else, and you could stop it, but the way to stop it was immensely difficult? I'd wager that you probably wouldn't be able think of much else for a while.
Another issue that I've seen people take with Miep's story is that she focuses solely on the persecution of the Jews during the war, and not the other groups targeted by Hitler. Now, I know that there were others who were persecuted during the war and that the Jews were not the only targets of the Nazis. However, Anne Frank's diary only focuses on the Jewish persecution as well, which makes me wonder if the other groups that were targeted were targeted on such a broad scale or as publicly. I don't know if there were laws against the other groups. I don't know if there was public opposition to them the way that there was to the Jews. I really don't know if Miep was ever aware until after the war that Hitler wasn't just focused on Jews. Let's also make another thing clear: I've read other personal accounts of the Holocaust, and the person who wrote said account typically only focuses on whatever group they are attached to. Night is the first example coming to mind, and though my memories of Elie Wiesel's book aren't exceptionally clear, I do know that Wiesel was imprisoned in the concentration camps because he was Jewish. I am nearly positive that most of the things he wrote about focused on the persecution of other Jews.
Miep is famous because she helped hide nine people throughout the war, and she very famously helped one person in particular: Anne Frank. All nine of the people that she helped happened to be Jewish. Her boss was Jewish. The woman she rented her apartment from was Jewish. Her dentist was Jewish. To me, it only makes sense that she writes about the Jewish suffering, because that was what she witnessed the most.
All in all, a remarkable account of a horrible event.
At the age of ten, I was obsessed with Anne Frank and her story. I spent countless hours researching the Holocaust and what happened to Anne and her family. I slowed down our family computer by downloading every picture of Anne I could find online and bookmarking any website that had new information about my new favorite person. It was because of Anne and her diary that I found my own love of writing, and decided shortly after I started reading the diary that I wanted to be a novelist (which remains to this day my biggest life goal and dream). From the ages of ten to fourteen, Anne Frank ruled my life.
It must have been around this time that I received a copy of Miep Gies' story. I never read it until this year, when somehow, the story of Anne Frank and the Holocaust popped back into my head. I found this book setting dejectedly on my bookshelf.
For anyone thinking about reading this book, be forewarned: it touches upon a lot of what Anne already covered in her diary. I feel odd putting historical events in spoiler warning tags, but just in case, But there are parts detailing Miep's own story, about how she came to the Netherlands due to food shortages, just how she came to work for Otto Frank and how the hiding plan was introduced to her; how she met her husband, a story of her hiding people in her own home besides the eight in the famous Secret Annex, and yes, details of the inevitable arrest and following events.
We don't gain a lot of Anne's story in this, so the title was a bit misleading. However, Miep does tell a story that, to people interested in the history, is endlessly fascinating to read about. The story is of course sad, and it did bring tears to my eyes a couple times. Miep had fears that even Anne didn't dare mention in her diary. It was haunting to read about the night that Miep spent in the hiding place with the Franks, as well as when she wrote about people in other hiding places who died before they could be freed.
Miep's story is a haunting tribute to one of the most atrocious historical events that has ever occurred. If you are at all interested in history or in the story of Anne Frank, it is a must read. There's not a lot to be gained about Anne, but it is worth a read. It offers a unique perspective of what happened on the Prinsengracht canal and elsewhere.
One last note, in response to other reviews that I have read of Miep's story:
Someone said that all Miep was concerned about during the early days of the war was getting married. I don't think that this is actually a fair assessment of Miep's desire to get married to her husband. In fact, I'd venture to say that this person actually didn't read the story at all. This was the early days of the war, when people just didn't know what was going to happen to them. They had no idea what was going to transpire in just a few short years. Of course people thought about themselves. Also, if Miep and Jan (referred to as Henk in Anne's diary and Miep's story) didn't get married, she would have been forced to leave the Netherlands and return to Austria, which she had already said didn't feel like home to her anymore. Tell me how much you'd like it if you were being forcibly removed from your home country and shipped somewhere else, and you could stop it, but the way to stop it was immensely difficult? I'd wager that you probably wouldn't be able think of much else for a while.
Another issue that I've seen people take with Miep's story is that she focuses solely on the persecution of the Jews during the war, and not the other groups targeted by Hitler. Now, I know that there were others who were persecuted during the war and that the Jews were not the only targets of the Nazis. However, Anne Frank's diary only focuses on the Jewish persecution as well, which makes me wonder if the other groups that were targeted were targeted on such a broad scale or as publicly. I don't know if there were laws against the other groups. I don't know if there was public opposition to them the way that there was to the Jews. I really don't know if Miep was ever aware until after the war that Hitler wasn't just focused on Jews. Let's also make another thing clear: I've read other personal accounts of the Holocaust, and the person who wrote said account typically only focuses on whatever group they are attached to. Night is the first example coming to mind, and though my memories of Elie Wiesel's book aren't exceptionally clear, I do know that Wiesel was imprisoned in the concentration camps because he was Jewish. I am nearly positive that most of the things he wrote about focused on the persecution of other Jews.
Miep is famous because she helped hide nine people throughout the war, and she very famously helped one person in particular: Anne Frank. All nine of the people that she helped happened to be Jewish. Her boss was Jewish. The woman she rented her apartment from was Jewish. Her dentist was Jewish. To me, it only makes sense that she writes about the Jewish suffering, because that was what she witnessed the most.
All in all, a remarkable account of a horrible event.
October 30, 2018
It is odd to suggest that a book about the horrors of WWII could be uplifting and hopeful, but this one is. Perhaps it is Miep Gies’ conviction that she was an ordinary person, her explanation that pretty much every Dutch person was hiding someone, her very human rejoicing in every attempt on Hitler’s life, but really I think the whole idea that human beings have stood up to evil and triumphed, that we can care about and for each other, is the important message that we are currently missing. This is all of Miep’s story, the parts that include Anne and the parts that don’t, despite the title of the book.
Read magnificently by Barbara Rosenblat in a Viennese accent that never falters.
Read magnificently by Barbara Rosenblat in a Viennese accent that never falters.
November 29, 2012
In the flurry of anniversaries of World War II one stands out, the 50th anniversary of the passing of Anne Frank, who died of typhus and hunger in Bergen Belsen, around March 1, 1945. The anniversary was marked by a special performance in Washington of "The Diary of Anne Frank", and Miep Gies came to attend, a stocky gray-haired Dutch lady of 86. Miep Gies was the one who helped sustain the Franks in their hiding place, and who later, after the Germans found out about the "Secret Annex" and raided it, scooped up Anne's diary and notes, to save them for posterity. This is her story.
And some story it is. Of the many nations occupied by the Nazis, the Dutch earned an unequalled reputation for integrity, decency and heroism, and Miep's tale goes a long way towards explaining how and why it happened. It is much more than a spin-off of the diary of Anne Frank, though it does clarify some facets of Anne's story, too. Rather, it is the personal account of a decent young woman, caught up in a hateful occupation and determined to resist it.
It is story of kindness in the face of cruel oppression. Kindness was what brought Miep to Holland in the first place, the 10-year old daughter of a poor Vienna family, taken in as a foster child by a kind Dutch family during the hunger years that followed WW I. Raised in Holland, she was again treated kindly by Otto Frank, a refugee businessman who successfully rebuilt his business in Holland. But when the Nazis arrived, life turned grim--Jews were deported, Jews and also some Christians were driven into hiding, and food became increasingly scarce, until in the end even the Dutch were starving.
Miep's spirit prevailed through it all. This is a simply written book, clear and unencumbered, and it deserves to be remembered as long as Anne Frank's is. There was only one Anne Frank, yet we should never forget more than twenty thousand brave Dutch men and women, who risked their lives (and sometimes lost them) trying to hide Jews. Miep Gies speaks for them all.
Postscript
The diary of Anne Frank touches anyone reading it. It is a story most young people should know--but if exposed to it too early, it may well frighten them more than anything else. When should they be told? All depends on the child's personality and maturity, and no answer fits all cases. However, recently (2009) I found a short illustrated book about Anne Frank, aimed specifically at young readers, and it may be best if they read it first.
The book, which first appeared in 2004, is "Anne Frank--a photographic story of a life" by Kem Knapp Sawyer, 127 pp., published by DK books, New York. It is indeed "the story of a life," and covers much more than the diary--telling about Anne's family and its life before going into hiding, clarifying what went on in "the secret annex," as well as what happened after the family was arrested. Grown-up readers not familiar with some of that may find this an interesting and touching story, too.
Miep Gies died January 11, 2010.
And some story it is. Of the many nations occupied by the Nazis, the Dutch earned an unequalled reputation for integrity, decency and heroism, and Miep's tale goes a long way towards explaining how and why it happened. It is much more than a spin-off of the diary of Anne Frank, though it does clarify some facets of Anne's story, too. Rather, it is the personal account of a decent young woman, caught up in a hateful occupation and determined to resist it.
It is story of kindness in the face of cruel oppression. Kindness was what brought Miep to Holland in the first place, the 10-year old daughter of a poor Vienna family, taken in as a foster child by a kind Dutch family during the hunger years that followed WW I. Raised in Holland, she was again treated kindly by Otto Frank, a refugee businessman who successfully rebuilt his business in Holland. But when the Nazis arrived, life turned grim--Jews were deported, Jews and also some Christians were driven into hiding, and food became increasingly scarce, until in the end even the Dutch were starving.
Miep's spirit prevailed through it all. This is a simply written book, clear and unencumbered, and it deserves to be remembered as long as Anne Frank's is. There was only one Anne Frank, yet we should never forget more than twenty thousand brave Dutch men and women, who risked their lives (and sometimes lost them) trying to hide Jews. Miep Gies speaks for them all.
Postscript
The diary of Anne Frank touches anyone reading it. It is a story most young people should know--but if exposed to it too early, it may well frighten them more than anything else. When should they be told? All depends on the child's personality and maturity, and no answer fits all cases. However, recently (2009) I found a short illustrated book about Anne Frank, aimed specifically at young readers, and it may be best if they read it first.
The book, which first appeared in 2004, is "Anne Frank--a photographic story of a life" by Kem Knapp Sawyer, 127 pp., published by DK books, New York. It is indeed "the story of a life," and covers much more than the diary--telling about Anne's family and its life before going into hiding, clarifying what went on in "the secret annex," as well as what happened after the family was arrested. Grown-up readers not familiar with some of that may find this an interesting and touching story, too.
Miep Gies died January 11, 2010.
September 8, 2019
Que livro espectacular!
Mies Gies foi uma das pessoas que ajudou a esconder Anne Frank e os restantes habitantes do "anexo" e conta-nos a sua história, não só o seu percurso de vida mas também durante o período da 2ª Guerra Mundial.
Um livro de leitura obrigatória!
Vejam a minha opinião mais detalhada em vídeo, AQUI.
Mies Gies foi uma das pessoas que ajudou a esconder Anne Frank e os restantes habitantes do "anexo" e conta-nos a sua história, não só o seu percurso de vida mas também durante o período da 2ª Guerra Mundial.
Um livro de leitura obrigatória!
Vejam a minha opinião mais detalhada em vídeo, AQUI.
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