A True End of an Era

Miep Gies died yesterday.  She was 100 years old.  She was a true hero.  That word - hero - gets a lot of use these days - most of it [in my opinion] not warranted.  Athletes, politicians, all are considered "heros" today, but Miep Gies proved her heroism in a time when being a hero meant putting yourself in danger - actual physical danger - something athletes and politicians certainly don't do.

Miep was the last of the "protectors" of the Frank family in Amsterdam during World War II.  She and the others brought food and companionship to the Franks, the van Damms and the others in the Annex after the families went into hiding to avoid deportation to the camps.  After the annex was raided and everyone sent off to the concentration camps, Miep found Anne's notebooks and notes.  After the war, Miep gave the notebooks to Mr. Frank (the only survivor) and then was born "Anne Frank: Diary of a Young Girl" and history was, indeed, made.

Millions have read the book, seen the play or the movie.  It was one of the books I remember most from when I was young  and, other than books on horses, was probably one of the first non-fiction books I had read! I think I read it first when I was about 10 - [a few short years after it was published!] - and it had a profound impact on me.  I give it credit for stimulating a life-long love of history because I couldn't believe that something so horrible had actually happened. I began devouring everything I could find about World War II. Anne was also a girl - and that was important too - because most of the "adventure" stories [and this was, to a 10 year old removed from the events an adventure] - were boy books, with boy characters. 

Over the years I've often wondered what I would have done had I been in certain situations.  Years ago, I imagined that I was in Anne's place - how would my family have coped?  Later, as I grew up, I was in Miep's (and the other protectors) place - would I have had the courage, the conviction to do what I knew was right in the face of such overwhelming terror and consequences??  I like to think the answer is yes - but, luckily, I've never been put in such a situation so I really can't say for sure.

RIP Miep Gies - you truly have a special place in my life.