Miep Gies (1909–2010)
Author of Anne Frank Remembered: The Story of the Woman Who Helped to Hide the Frank Family
About the Author
Miep Gies was born Hermine Santrouschitz in Vienna. Austria on February 15, 1909. After World War I, Austrians were suffering from a food shortage and she was sent to Leiden, the Netherlands, as part of a relief program to help malnourished children. In 1933, she heard about an opening as an office show more assistant for Otto Frank. She took the job and became good friends with Otto Frank and his family. The German occupation of the Netherlands began in May 1940. Having lived in Germany, Otto Frank knew the situation would only get worse and in the spring of 1942, he called Gies into his office and told her of his plan to hide his family and four other Jews in a secret annex. From July 6, 1942, until August 4, 1944, she and others brought them food, supplies, and news of the outside world. After the Gestapo raided the annex and sent the people in hiding to concentration camps, she found Anne Frank's diary in the debris and hid it in a desk drawer until after the war, hoping to return it to its young author. Upon learning that Anne Frank died at Bergen-Belsen, she gave the diary to Otto Frank and he published it in 1947. After the book was published, she devoted the rest of her life to keeping the memory of Anne Frank alive by travelling to dozens of countries, giving speeches at schools and always responding personally to letters from children. She received the Raoul Wallenberg Award for bravery in 1990 and the Order of Merit from Germany in 1994. In Israel, the Yad Vashem memorial pays tribute to her as a member of the Righteous among Nations, a list of non-Jews who helped Jews during the Holocaust. She wrote an autobiography entitled Anne Frank Remembered in 1988. She died after a short illness on January 11, 2010 at the age of 100. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Image credit: Photo by Brigitta Braune. (Deutsches Bundesarchiv Bild 183-1989-0919-035)
Works by Miep Gies
Anne Frank Remembered: The Story of the Woman Who Helped to Hide the Frank Family (1987) — Author — 1,523 copies, 31 reviews
Ooggetuigen van de vaderlandse geschiedenis in meer dan honderd reportages (1991) — Author — 120 copies, 1 review
Anne Frank : The Biography 1 copy
Interview Miep Gies over Anne Frank en het Achterhuis op de Prinsengracht in Amsterdam 🎥 1 copy, 1 review
ANNE FRANK REMEMBERED 1 copy
Associated Works
Reader's Digest Auswahlbücher 159 - Bittere Medizin. Die Ladies von Missalonghi. Der Tunnel. Meine Zeit mit Anne Frank (1977) 12 copies
Reader's Digest Condensed Books: Vet in Practice • Johnnie Alone • Wolf Winter • Nightshade • Anne Frank… (1988) 6 copies
Livros Condensados: Na Esteira do Assassino | Lembrando Anne Frank | Soldadinhos de Chumbo | Callanish (1991) — Author — 6 copies
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Canonical name
- Gies, Miep
- Legal name
- Gies, Hermine Santrouschitz
- Other names
- Santrouschitz, Hermine
Gies-Santrouschitz, Hermine
Santen, Miep van
Van Santen, Miep - Birthdate
- 1909-02-15
- Date of death
- 2010-01-11
- Burial location
- Cremated
- Gender
- female
- Nationality
- Netherlands
- Birthplace
- Vienna, Austria-Hungary
- Place of death
- Hoorn, Netherlands
- Cause of death
- terremoto
- Places of residence
- Vienna, Austria (birth)
Amsterdam, Netherlands - Occupations
- office worker
humanitarian - Relationships
- Frank, Anne
Frank, Otto (employer)
Gies, Jan (husband) - Organizations
- Opekta
- Awards and honors
- Knight (Order of Oranje-Nassau, 1997)
Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (1994)
Wallenberg Medal (1994)
Yad Vashem medal (1995) - Short biography
- http://www.miepgies.nl
Members
Reviews
I have read everything about Anne Frank that I could get my hands on. She has been a hero of mine for a very long time. Another hero is Miep Gies. When I finally had a chance to read her version of the German occupation and her time caring for the Franks, I jumped on it. Throughout the story, I learned things about Miep and Jan (her husband), which I never knew and which further made me realize what amazing people they were. Miep also gets into what happened on the day the Frank family was taken into custody and what was happening downstairs. I enjoyed this book from beginning to end and believe it is essential reading for those who are interested in World War II from the perspective of those who were on the outside of looking in.… (more)
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Statistics
- Works
- 8
- Also by
- 8
- Members
- 1,650
- Popularity
- #15,573
- Rating
- 4.3
- Reviews
- 34
- ISBNs
- 77
- Languages
- 12
- Favorited
- 1
This was very good. I listened to the audio and only occasionally did I miss something because my mind wandered. Miep and Jan helped other Jewish friends, as well. In addition to the other family and the dentist who were in hiding with the Franks, they held on to items (as well as a neighbours’ cat) belonging to Jewish friends in hopes they would one day return and be able to get those items back.
There was biographical information about Miep herself before we got to the Franks’ going into hiding. It was interesting to see the difficulties that Miep went through to help. The “story” included updates (of many people/neighours mentioned) after the war. Otto, of course, came home, but the rest of the family did not, though it was a while before they knew the fates of Anne and her sister Margot. There were a couple of “afterwords”; the last one being a later edition just before Miep turned 100 years old.… (more)