Miep Gies

During the Nazi occupation of Holland, this Austrian-born Dutch woman risked her life daily to save the Frank family from the Nazis. She is very inspirational to me because she made me realize that anyone can stand up for what they believe in. She is also very courageous for keeping 8 Jews hidden for two years when you could get killed for that. According to Miep Gies, she is not a hero. She sees herself as one of twenty thousand Dutch people that helped hide the Jews during the Holocaust.

Miep Gies was born February 15, 1909, in Vienna, Austria. Miep Gies' real name was Hermine Santrouschritz. Miep got the name "Miep" from her Dutch foster family. Her only child Paul Gies, was born July 13, 1950.

Miep Gies (http://www.annefrank.org/upload/Onderduiken/ Onderduiken_portret%20MIep%20Gies.JPG)

When World War One started, she was only five years old. During that time, there were terrible famines all over Austria. After the war, she was very thin. She was so thin that her legs were dominated by her bony knees. She was also so thin that her parents put her in a program for hungry Austrian children. All the thin children would be sent to a far country of the Netherlands to be properly fed for awhile. When Miep was ten, she had another sister and that meant that now there was less food for them. Her condition was worsening. Her parents told her something had to be done or else she would die.

In 1933, she started working for Otto Frank as a jam maker. She would always send money to her birth family. She later met Anne Frank. She and Anne had a lot in common and they talked a lot. Miep Gies and her husband, Jan Gies, became regular guests at the Frank's house and good friends of the family.

On July 6, Otto Frank moved his wife and two daughters to an annex above his office to escape the Nazis' terror. For two years, she and a small group of others provided them with food, information and a link to the outside world. Until August 4, 1944, when the Nazis found them.

Miep Gies avoided the arrest from the officer because he was also Austrian and felt a connection with her, so he let her go. She unsuccessfully tried to bribe the officer with money to release her friends. After the Nazis invaded the annex, Miep went to see what she could find and she found Anne's diary. This is why Miep Gies is my hero: she stood up for what she believed in.