Miep Gies

Gies at the age of Sixteenhttps://www.miepgies.nlHiding underground, no sunlight for months, little food. This was life for the “lucky” Jews during World War II. At the time, some people wanted to stop their suffering. One example was Hermine Santrouschitz. During the year 1909, Santrouschitz was born into an impoverished family from Vienna, Austria. She eventually faced starvation and sickness. However, things turned around when she was chosen to live with a foster family in the Netherlands. This arrangement was only supposed to last until Santrouschitz was healthy, but the family decided to adopt her. Along the way, she received the nickname she was mainly known as, Miep Gies. Eventually, she got a job as the assistant of Otto Frank and became close to his family. The two traits a hero must possess are caring and trustworthy. A caring person puts others before themselves and tries their best to help everyone. On the other hand, someone trustworthy can protect essential things and is reliable. Her warm-hearted personality and trustworthiness are a representation of Gies' heroism. Since Gies possesses the traits of caring and trustworthy, she is considered a hero.

Gies holding her book, "Anne Frank Remembered."www.nytimes.comOne trait Gies possessed was trustworthiness. She proved this trait to everybody even before the war. Gies’ trustworthiness was shown when Otto hired her “Because Frank's Dutch was still rudimentary, Gies' ability to speak German fluently and her willingness to teach Frank Dutch was an asset. She became the head of information and complaints, which typically meant that she fielded calls from housewives who had made mistakes using the company's product. Opekta was a small company, and Gies became close friends with the Frank family.” (“Hero helped save Anne Frank’s diary”) This quote describes Gies’ trustworthiness. After she proved her skills she was moved up in the company and became close to the whole Frank family. Frank trusted her so much that he allowed her to get closer with his family. If she wasn’t a trustworthy person Otto would never have allowed her to get near his family. She even became one of the most trusted positions at the company, the assistant of Otto “It was not long after this that Otto Frank informed Gies that he, his family, and the van Daans planned to go into hiding. He asked if she would care for the group. ‘Of course,’ she replied. In July of 1942, Gies and her husband helped the Franks move their belongings into the hiding place they had prepared in the attic at Otto Frank's office building.” (“Miep Gies”) Gies was a trustworthy individual. She was so trustworthy, Otto Frank asked if she would be willing to protect his family and the Van Daans. If Gies was an unreliable and untrustworthy person Frank never would have put his family and other families lives into her hands. But since she was reliable Frank was able to trust her with their lives.  Overall, Gies has been trusted with essential things and has lived up to the task. She proved herself to be trustworthy and is worthy of being called a hero.

Even though Gies was risking her own life to save others, she remained a caring person. One example, of Gies’ loving attitude, was when she hid Jewish families, “For 25 months Gies helped the little group survive. Twice a day, except when she was sick, she visited the group, picking up their list in the morning, and returning in the evening with groceries. Her visits were eagerly looked forward to because she also brought news of what was happening outside.” (“Miep Gies”) This quote shows how Gies cared for her group. She was so concerned about these people's lives that she hid them for 25 long months with the best conditions she could possibly provide. She would supply them with groceries and news from the “outside world.” Gies helped everyone around her no matter their religion or culture. She saw everyone the same. “After the arrest, Gies hurried to the annex, where she saw loose papers containing Anne's writing, as well as her diary. Gies grabbed the papers and hid them in an unlocked desk drawer, where she intended to keep them until Anne's return. She also attempted, with help from the other caretakers, to bribe the Gestapo into releasing their friends, but she was unsuccessful. Anne and her sister were taken to Bergen-Belsen, where Anne died of typhoid only a few weeks before the camp was liberated by the Allies.” (“Hero helped save Anne Frank’s diary”) This quote explained how Gies took Anne’s diary before the Nazi’s found it. She cared so much for Anne that she hid it in a drawer until she was hopefully released. She never read or touched it since she put in in the drawer. While she cared about Anne she also cared deeply about other people Gies wanted to take care of everyone, she did this by trying to bribe the Gestapo to release people. She was so kind to everyone that she was willing to use her hard earned money to release people. All of this evidence shows Gies would do anything for someone and she cares deeply about everyone, no matter their religion.

Gies on her wedding dayhttps://www.miepgies.nl

In conclusion, Gies significantly helped everyone around her. She quickly earned people's trust and cared about everyone. She managed to overcome her obstacles and help people in need. “Miep Gies was one of more than 20,000 courageous Dutch people who helped to hide Jews and others from the Germans during World War II (1939-45). Nearly every day for more than two years this woman, who insisted that she was ‘not a hero,’ brought food, companionship, and news of the outside world, at tremendous personal risk, to eight Jewish people concealed in an attic in Amsterdam, Holland.” (“Miep Gies” People of the Holocaust) Gies is an inspiration to all because she helped save Jews during World War II. Without her and the other 20,000 Dutch people, the number of Jewish people who died would have been much higher. This shows she is an inspiration and protector. She decided to go against the law to do what she thought was right and ended up saving lives. Gies also claimed she wasn’t a hero even though she brought food and many other things to these scared Jewish people in hiding. Gies has shown me and the rest of the world to respect and care about everyone. She has taught us to be humble and to help people in need. Lastly, Gies put others before herself and managed to gain the trust of people, especially Jews. Her generosity and selflessness are what truly make her a hero.

Works Cited

"Hero helped save Anne Frank's diary." New Zealand Herald [Auckland, New Zealand], 16 Jan.

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https://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A226139208/SUIC?u=powa9245&sid=SUIC&xi=2fe00ec0. Accessed 10 Dec. 2018.

"Miep Gies." Newsmakers, vol. 1, Gale, 2011. Student Resources In Context,

https://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/K1618005426/SUIC?u=powa9245&sid=SUIC&xid=a236d5ce. Accessed 10 Dec. 2018.

"Miep Gies." People of the Holocaust, Gale, 1998. Biography In Context,

https://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/K2422000021/BIC?u=powa9245&sid=BIC&xid=

b9432b26. Accessed 5 Dec. 2018.