what did miep gies do

Miep Gies

• Working Life. Miep finished her schooling at 18 and got a job in the office of a textile company, where she worked until she was 24, when she was laid ...
• Hiding the Franks. In June 1942, considering the worsening situation for the Jews, the Franks decided to go into hiding in the secret annex of their office building.
• Death and Legacy. ...

Full Answer

What is Miep Gies known for?

Miep Gies was one of the helpers of the people hiding in the Secret Annex. After the arrest, she kept Anne's writings in a drawer of her desk. In 2010 she died, one hundred years old. This is her remarkable life story.

How did Miep Gies betray the Franks?

For the next two years, until the Franks and four others, who later went into hiding with them, were ultimately betrayed, Gies and her husband used pluck and illegal ration cards to provide food and other supplies to the upstairs prisoners.

What did Miep Gies do during the Holocaust?

Having married a Dutch social worker, Jan Gies, in 1941, Miep Gies joined with him and three other employees of Mr. Frank's business in sheltering the eight Jews and caring for their daily needs. The protectors risked death if caught by the Nazis.

What did Miep Gies do before the war?

Working Life. Miep finished her schooling at 18 and got a job in the office of a textile company, where she worked until she was 24, when she was laid off due to the Depression.

What happened to Otto Frank after he was captured?

Otto and the other people in hiding were arrested. Otto felt guilty when they also took Johannes Kleiman and Victor Kugler. After a few days in prison, Otto and the others were put on a train to the Westerbork transit camp. They ended up in the prison barracks, and the men and women were separated.

What happened to Anne Frank after she was captured?

After their arrest, the Franks, Van Pels and Fritz Pfeffer were sent by the Gestapo to Westerbork, a holding camp in the northern Netherlands. From there, in September 1944, the group was transported by freight train to the Auschwitz-Birkenau extermination and concentration camp complex in German-occupied Poland.

How did Anne Frank's family get caught?

Anne Frank captured. Acting on tip from an informer, the Nazi Gestapo captures 15-year-old Jewish diarist Anne Frank and her family in a sealed-off area of an Amsterdam warehouse. The Franks had taken shelter there in 1942 out of fear of deportation to a Nazi concentration camp.

Who was in the attic with Anne Frank?

During WWII, Anne Frank's family hid in the Secret Annex for over 2 years, with the Van Pels family and Fritz Pfeffer.

Who found Anne Frank's diary?

Miep GiesAfter the arrest of the eight people in hiding, helpers Miep Gies and Bep Voskuijl found Anne's writings in the Secret Annex. Miep held on to Anne's diaries and papers and kept them in a drawer of her desk.

What punishment do Anne and her family receive for not turning themselves in voluntarily?

Answer and Explanation: After Anne Frank and the others that were hiding were discovered, they were arrested and sent to a camp called Westerbork as a punishment for not turning themselves in directly.

How unique was the Secret Annex?

It was extremely unusual to hide in one place for a long time as Anne Frank and her family did. After the war, it became clear that some people had spent time in hiding at more than twenty different addresses. The Orthodox Jewish butcher's boy Benjamin Kosses actually spent time at more than 42 addresses.

How did the Franks get caught?

On August 1, 1944, Anne made her last entry in her diary. Three days later, 25 months of seclusion ended with the arrival of the Nazi Gestapo. Anne and the others had been given away by an unknown informer, and they were arrested along with two of the Christians who had helped shelter them.

How did Anne Frank's diary survive?

Otto Frank, her father, somehow survived Auschwitz and returned to Amsterdam after the war. Otto's secretary, Miep Gies, found Anne's diary after the Nazis raided the house and interned the Frank family. Gies saved the diary, along with Anne's surviving notebooks and papers.

What event made Mrs Frank threaten to put the van daans out on the street?

Mrs. Frank threatened to kick out the Van Daans because she saw Mr. Van Daan stealing the hiders food rations in the middle of the night.

How did Miep Gies die?

On 11 January 2010, a month before her 101st birthday, Miep Gies died in Hoorn after suffering injuries from a fall.

What honors did Miep Gies receive?

In 1994, Gies was awarded the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany as well as the Wallenberg Medal by the University of Michigan. The following year, Gies received the Yad Vashem Righteous Among the Nations medal.

How did Gies help Opekta?

To prevent the Opekta workers from becoming suspicious, Gies tried to not 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.

How did Gies avoid suspicion?

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.

Why was Gies transported to Leiden?

(April 2014) ( Learn how and when to remove this template message) Born in Vienna to Karoline Maria Santrouschitz, Gies was transported to Leiden from Vienna in December 1920 to escape the food shortages prevailing in Austria after World War I.

How long did Gies stay with her family?

Although she was initially only 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. She died in 2010 at age 100.

Why did Gies work for Otto Frank?

In 1933, Gies began working for Otto Frank, a Jewish businessman who had moved with his family from Germany to the Netherlands in the hope of sparing his family from Nazi persecution. She became a close, trusted friend of the Frank family and was a great support to them during the two years they spent in hiding.

Who Was Miep Gies?

She married a Dutch man and worked for Otto Frank, becoming close with his family. She, along with several colleagues, hid the Franks in a secret annex to the office for more than two years before their discovery by the Gestapo. She rescued Anne Frank 's diaries and later returned them to Otto Frank, the sole survivor of his family. He had them published. Gies recorded her own memoir of the time in 1987 and died on January 11, 2010, at age 100.

When did Miep Gies die?

Miep Gies died on January 11, 2010, in a nursing home after a fall, just a month shy of her 101st birthday.

What did the Franks do in 1942?

In June 1942, considering the worsening situation for the Jews, the Franks decided to go into hiding in the secret annex of their office building. Along with a select few others, Miep agreed to be a "helper," bringing them food that she would gather from different grocers with illegal ration cards her husband had procured as part of the Dutch resistance. Miep and her colleagues also kept the business afloat, providing income and making the building a low-profile hub of activity. At their suggestion, Miep and Jan even spent a night with the eight people in hiding upstairs, where she recalled, "The fright...was so thick I could feel it pressing down on me."

What did Miep do?

Miep finished her schooling at 18 and got a job in the office of a textile company, where she worked until she was 24, when she was laid off due to the Depression. After several months of unemployment, a neighbor alerted Miep to a possible position at Nederlandsche Opekta, a company that provided ingredients for making jam. She interviewed with Otto Frank, who due to Nazi oppression of the Jews had fled Germany with his family and his business. They bonded through their fractured Dutch and fluent German, and when Miep passed her jam-making test she immediately began working for him.

How long did Anne Frank stay hidden?

She and her co-workers were able to keep the family hidden for over two years, but eventually they were betrayed. The annex was raided by the Nazis on August 4, 1944, and the occupants were sent to concentration camps. Miep found Anne Frank's diaries and put them away for the family's return.

What awards did Miep receive?

Miep received many awards late in life, including the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany, the Yad Vashem Medal and the Wallenberg Medal. In accepting the latter honor, she said, "I feel strongly that we should not wait for our political leaders to make this world a better place.".

Why was Hermine accepted into the Dutch program?

Because there was little work and food shortages were frequent in the wake of World War I, Hermine was accepted into a Dutch program for malnourished children. In December 1920, she was placed with the Nieuwenburg family in Leiden to help regain her strength and health.

Where did Miep Gies work?

In 1936, Miep Gies was working at Opekta, a company owned by Otto Frank in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Part of her job was to answer customers’ questions about the product, which helped people make jam. Please be respectful of copyright. Unauthorized use is prohibited.

Why did Miep Gies go to prison?

Miep Gies was not going to stand by as the Nazis arrested people in the Netherlands and sent them to prison camps just for being Jewish. Instead, she risked her life to help them. Born Hermine Santrouschitz on February 15, 1909, “Miep” was sent from her home in Vienna, Austria, to live with a family in the Netherlands when she was 11.

What did Gies buy to sneak to the family?

Even though she would’ve been sent to prison—or worse—if she had been caught, Gies illegally bought meat and vegetables to sneak to the family. And she kept bringing in more Jewish people, including the family of Frank’s business partner and her own dentist.

Who took control of Germany and began enacting laws against the Jewish people who lived there?

Right about that time, dictator Adolf Hitler and his Nazi party took control of Germany and began enacting laws against the Jewish people who lived there. They were banned from holding professional jobs, and many Jewish businesses were destroyed. They were even stripped of their German citizenship.

Who is Miep Gies?

However, her harrowing story is one that may never have been heard if not for Hermine Santruschitz, who most people know as Miep Gies.

What did Miep Gies receive for her service?

Fifty years after the Frank family was captured, Miep Gies received awards for her services to them. She was awarded the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany as well as the Wallenberg Medal by the University of Michigan. In 1995, she was knighted in the Order of Orange-Nassau by Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands.

How did Miep Gies contribute to the Franks?

However, Gies was able to make one lasting contribution to the Franks’ story by ensuring that it lived on through Anne’s diary. Before the authorities could search the annex above the offices where the families had been staying, Miep Gies broke in and took the pages of Anne’s diary.

What happened to Opekta?

On Aug. 4, 1944, disaster struck. The Opekta offices were raided and the hidden families were taken away. Gies herself visited several police stations after the families were taken and even offered money in exchange for their release. Tragically, she was unsuccessful.

What did Gies reflect on at the end of her life?

At the end of her life, Gies reflected on the time she’d spent on earth, and how she’d affected those around her.

How long did it take for Gies to return to Vienna?

Upon her refusal, the German’s had her passport invalidated and she was ordered to return to her hometown of Vienna within ninety days. At the time, Germany had annexed Austria, which would effectively make Gies a German citizen.

Why did Gies marry her fiance?

Fearing deportation to a German-controlled area, Gies was forced to marry her fiance – an Amsterdam native – sooner than expected, to gain Dutch citizenship. Eventually, Gies began working for Opekta, a German-based company with multiple offices in the Netherlands, with Otto Frank becoming her boss.

What was Miep Gies's role in the story?

As the diary became more well known Miep Gies’s brave role in the story received worldwide attention. She received many honours, among them the Yad Vashem medal and a knighthood from the German government; the Bundesverdienst Kreuz.

Where did Miep work?

From 1933 she worked as Otto Frank’s secretary at Opekta, his trading company in gelling agents for making jam. When Otto approached her in the spring of 1942 to ask her help him and his family go into hiding, Miep did not hesitate.

What was Miep's role in Anne Frank?

Every day she received letters from all over the world with questions about her relationship with Anne Frank and her role as a helper .

Who took Anne's diary papers into safekeeping?

Her husband Jan Gies organised ration coupons, and like Miep visited the secret annexe regularly. By helping, they were putting their own lives at risk. Immediately after the arrest of the people in hiding, on August 4 1944, Miep Gies took Anne’s diary papers into safekeeping.

Who was Anne Frank's last helper?

Anne Frank July 11, 1943. Miep Gies, the last surviving and best known helper of Anne Frank and the people who shared her hiding place in an Amsterdam canalside house, has died in Hoorn on 11 January at the age of 100.

What did Ahlers do?

Ahlers said that he worked as a courier for the SD (Nazi security service) and for the NSB, and said that he had intercepted the letter by chance. Subsequent investigations showed that he was indeed a frequent visitor at the Security Service, but that his role as courier was simply made up.

Who was the stockroom manager in Annex?

Willem van Maaren. Stockroom manager Willem van Maaren was suspected of the betrayal for many years, although he never sided with the Nazis. He stole goods and was generally considered dishonest. In Anne's diary it becomes clear that the Annex occupants also did not trust him.

Where was Victor Kugler summoned?

A few more 'loose ends' remain. For example, in late 1943 Victor Kugler was summoned to the local headquarters of the Nazi Party in his hometown of Hilversum, on the same night that the hiders on Prinsengracht were alarmed by an insistent ringing of the front doorbell.

When was the Amsterdam Police Force inquiry?

The Political Investigation Department of the Amsterdam police force conducted an inquiry in 1948, and a second inquiry took place in 1963. In 2003, the Netherlands Institute for War Documentation released a report.

Who was the night watchman in the annex?

In this scenario, the name of the night watchman Martin Sleegers plays a prominent role. Following the report of a burglary in the premises in April 1944, he and a police officer went to investigate. They actually fumbled with the bookcase that hid the entrance to the Secret Annex.

Did Frank give money to Ahlers?

It is known that Frank twice gave money to Ahlers, though probably not more than 50 guilders altogether. It has not been established that Ahlers visited Frank regularly. Tonny Ahlers Ahlers was notoriously anti-Semitic, for which he was also convicted after the war, but also an inveterate liar and a braggart.

Overview

Early life

Hiding the families

Honors and awards

Death

Further reading

External links