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- Miep Gies helped the people hiding in the Secret Annex of Prinsengracht 263 during World War II and made sure that Anne Frank's diary was saved.
Miep Gies was born Hermine Santrouschitz in the former dual monarchy of Austria-Hungary and adopted in December 1920 at the age of 11 by the Nieuwenburg family from Leiden - who later moved to Amsterdam - as one of the thousands of mostly malnourished Austrian children who were brought to the Netherlands for some time as part of a national campaign in order to gain strength.
At the age of 24 she found work at "Opekta", a company owned by Otto Frank, Anne Frank's father. She married Jan Gies on July 16, 1941 and they had one son.
Anne Frank
When Otto Frank informed Gies that he and his family had to go into hiding, Gies was immediately prepared to provide them with food and news while in hiding. From July 6, 1942 to August 4, 1944, Gies, together with Johannes Kleiman, Victor Kugler, Bep Voskuijl, Jan Gies and Johan Voskuijl, formed a team of helpers of eight Jewish people in hiding in the Secret Annex at 263 Prinsengracht in Amsterdam. Otto Frank's office was located at the front in the same building, where Gies worked as a secretary. On December 18, 1941, Otto Frank disappeared from the management of his firm Travies & Co. His other company, Pectalon, which traded in a natural binder for jam, was renamed N.V. Handelsvereeniging Gies & Co, making it a neutral company. Their products were given the name Gisco.
After the betrayal, arrest on Aug 4, 1944 and the deportation of the eight people in hiding, Gies and her colleague Bep Voskuijl made sure that the diary of Anne Frank, was kept out of German hands. Gies kept Anne's writings unread in a drawer of her desk and gave them after the war to Anne's father, who was the only one of the eight to survive the concentration camps. He arranged for Anne's estate to be published in 1947 under the title Het Achterhuis, later Anne Franks diary.
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Tofterå Slettemoen genealogy
1909 - 2010 (100 years)
