The Story of the Woman Who Helped to Hide the Frank Family

The book arrived promptly, used library book in fair condition. I was very satisfied with the detailed accounting that was offered from a friend that was
involved with the everyday life of the Frank family
from the time the Frank girls were very young until
their capture by the Germans. How could anyone possibly
deny this "horror" never happened?

An excellent read to follow the reading of Anne Frank. Mrs. Gies' words help to validate Anne's historical writings. I am so glad she choose to share her horrifying experiences during a most dark time in our world's history. If you have read Anne's diary, this is a necessary addition to the story.

My outside reading book is Anne Frank Remembered by Miep Gies. It’s nonfiction, and was actually written by the woman who played a very large role in hiding Anne Frank and her family. I chose to read this book because I'm in the play, The Diary of Anne Frank, and I thought it would be interesting to read about what the people in hiding were like, not according to Anne. In the grand scheme of things, I think everyone should definitely read this book. It tells us the story of what happens when someone rises to power through spreading fear, and blames it on one group of people.It's just a raw reminder of what happened to the Jews so many years ago, and that history could easily repeat itself. My favorite character in the book would have to be Margot, Anne's big sister. She was a polite young woman who was always willing to help. Everyone in the Annex was always butting heads, and being rude to each other. But Margot wasn't rude to the other family in hiding, and just wanted everyone to get along well. I'm sure she wasn't a saint. She probably had her problems and hated her parents just like Anne did. But she did a better way of masking it, and wasn't a drama queen, like Anne or Mrs. Van Daan. Let’s take Mrs. Van Daan for example. She always criticized the way Anne and Margot were raised, and she got into fights with her husband all the time. She annoyed everyone, and was just a rude person. Margot was nothing like that. We should all strive to be more like Margot. Everyone should read this story because even though it talks about the struggles of the people in hiding, it goes into great detail of how hard it was to actually hide the people. How brave you need to be, and how smart you need to be. When we learn about World War II, we mostly think of the victims, and what it was like for them. But this book allows us to learn about the heroes, and to go through what they went through. If you want to be inspired, read this book. You won’t regret it.

I could not read much of this book without having tears in my eyes, especially towards the end. Miep Gies, who helped hide and supply the Frank family for 25 months, shows her bravery and true stripes amid overwhelming odds. Who would not want a friend such as this? The book is high on details and the chronological delivery builds from the first page. Though I've read many of the revelations before (and probably this was their source), I appreciated the first -person delivery from the character most in the know. If Anne Frank's diary is a young girls literary triumph of the war years, this is the background revealed. Read the diary, of course, first, but then read this for the whole story. Then make room for the tears,

Miep Gies does not consider herself to be a hero, although anyone familiar with her story would probably consider her one. In "Anne Frank Remembered" Gies (along with Alison Leslie Gold) tells of the role she played in hiding the Frank family in Amsterdam during WWII. She sets the stage with her own personal background and how she came to work for Mr. Frank, and the special connection that she almost instantaneously shared with Anne.

Thousands are familiar with the events that happened while the Franks were in hiding, thanks to the legacy of Anne's diary that Gies rescued when the families were finally captured and taken to concentration camps. Gies recalls what life was like in those days, when her husband played a role in the Dutch Resistance movement and they took a Jew in to hide in their own home while hiding the eight people at 263 Prinsengracht. Her story is one of almost unbelievable courage and audacity - to so boldly defy the German captors who invaded their land and to stand up against the evils that were being perpetrated against the Jews. Miep Gies believes that others would have done, and did do, the exact same thing that she did.

The story Gies has to tell expands upon the events put forth in Anne's diary. Although those in hiding knew the danger that awaited not only them but also their helpers, reading events from Miep's perspective adds another layer to the saga of the Frank family. One might wish that she expounded more upon the period after the war ended, but her focus is on Anne Frank first and foremost. So much hope was held out that Margot and Anne might make it. When news came that they didn't, it seems as if a part of Miep died, and it took her several years before she could bring herself to read Anne's diary. Even if these events are hard to speak about and hard to read, her story is a necessary addition to Anne Frank's legacy.

Millions of people around the world have been inspired and touched by the story of Anne Frank, the young Jewish girl, who spent two long years in hiding, with family and a few friends, in Amsterdam, from their Nazi persecutors, during the second World War, before they were discovered and shipped off tho their deaths in Auschwitz.

Twenty years ago Miep Gies (98 years old at the time of writing of this review) revealed her own courageous and generous role in hiding the Frank family and others, and providing them with food, companionship, and most of all hope.

She gives revealing insight into Anne's life and of her own.

Miep had been a hungry child refugee from Austria, just after the First World War, and passed her own experiences of generosity and compassion on.

We read of the Nazi ocupation of the Netherlands, the decrees and attacks against the Jews, and of the deportations and hidings.

Ultimately every man and women must ask what they would do, when a world goes mad.

This is a fine book for anyone interested in learning more about the Anne Frank tragedy. Ms Gies ( who it turns out just died in 2010 @ 100 years old ) tells "the rest of the story" about her involvement in hiding the Frank family and others during the German occupation of Amsterda, and about her finding and preserving Anne's diary. I was left with even more admiration for Ms Mies and her husband, who risked so much to shelter the Jews. I thought the book picked up a lot after the Allies invasion when everyone was trying to hang on long enough for the liberation. Of course, the Frank family was not able to do that. AS is the case with the book, The Diary of Anne Frank, it is difficult to realize that all of that happenned in what we like to think of is a civilized world. The book doesn't do much to improve one's feeling about the Germans.

Many books have been written about Anne Frank and her family, but what about the people who helped them during thier time in hiding? Who are these brave people who risked prison or death to help 8 poeple? Anne Frank rememebered tells the story of Miep and other workers,dutch citizens who did these brave deeds, not for money,fame just to help people who needed it. For years Miep and her husband keep out of the public eye not even reading the book She help to save. Even after the war She was there to help Mr.Frank in the dark days of rebuilding his life. Thanks to Her and Mr.Frank the world has one more treasure to read.Meip You are a hero,who story enrich everyone who reads. After You read Anne Franks'Diary this is a must read.

The late Miep Gies was more than a courageous hero when she agreed to help the Frank family hide in the attic of Mr. Frank's business. She ran a great risk of deportation and/or death by helping them, but she never questioned doing the right thing for a second. Although Anne's name is in the title, the memoir is more about Miep's story and fills in some of the blanks from the girl's iconic diary.

Born in early 1900s Vienna, little Miep was sent to live with a foster family in Holland because of the local food shortages caused by the First World War. She came to love her foster family and considered herself a proud Dutch citizen. By her early 20s, she worked as a secretary for Otto Frank's spice business Opekta. The small staff (including Victor Kugler, Johannes Kleiman, and Bep Voskuijl) viewed each other as family with Otto representing their father.

The rise of Hitler and increasing anti-Semitism that followed sparked the idea for the Frank family to go into hiding. With the help of Miep, her husband Jan, and the other employees, the Frank and Van Pels family along with local dentist Fritz Pfeffer were kept safe in the attic for about 2 years until their fateful capture. Miep's description of that day is equally heart wrenching and suspenseful.

Anne and the other attic members are metioned several times, but Miep's story gives voice to the helpers. The fear and anxiety of keeping everyone safe. Making sure you can feed everyone despite the dwindling numbers of ration cards and widespread starvation. The many close calls that could've ended in capture. Anne's story will live on forever, but let us not forget about the woman who tried her best to keep her safe and saved her diary so that generations will never forget. Miep, you were a hero and then some.

I was deeply moved and touched by this book. Miep Gies is perhaps the last person alive who knew the Frank family well during that pivotal time when the family were in hiding. As someone who has followed the Anne Frank story all my life it was something special to read this story about someone who could add more pieces to the puzzle of Anne's life.
Miep and her collaborator Alison Leslie Gold have done a wonderful job in bringing to life in clear crisp prose Miep's role in helping the family during that terrible time when barbarity had stood the world on its head. One point of interest is the inconsistency of Miep's report of events, with others, on that awful day of the family's arrest in August 1944. Chapter 15 of Miep's book should be read closely with the very precise account of that day contained in "The Diary of Anne Frank: the Critical Edition."
This is not to imply that Miep was in anyway involved in the betrayal of the family. Clearly, she wasn't. Miep's inconsistences just make her book more realistic, more readable, more earthy. Her book becomes an account not of a hero, a saint or a fighter for a cause. Miep was simply a friend who cared.

Miep Gies should be remembered as one of the greatest women of all time. Out of sheer love, love for people, she helped in hiding the Frank family along with a few others.
The book tells the entire story of Miep Gies, from her first employment by Anne's father until the final liberation of Holland. The story is told honestly and without a feeling of ego or of her deliberately sounding like the brave woman she was. And it's told in such a way, that you feel a kind of suspense as if you didn't know of the tragedy coming.
Miep is unrelenting in her portrayal of the grimness of life during the German occupation of Holland. It was worse of all for the Jewish people, but it was also hard on the Dutch people. Reading this is an education for those of us who have no idea of how it is to live in an occupied country.
However, you feel the hope in the ending. Also, one realizes how truly important a book that Anne Frank's diary was. This is a very moving and a most important book on its own.

Miep Gies has done an astounding job and written a really wonderful book. I own this book, originally having bought it when it first came out 14 years ago. I read it then, put it away, and recently got it back out when the Anne Frank miniseries was on t.v. I reread it, and it was just like reading it for the first time! You get to know more about the Frank family and those in hiding with them. You learn more about them on a personal level. Miep also tells us about herself and her background. She really helps us feel what it was like to be a Jew in hiding. And she describes the days before, during and after the war so vividly. It's a great lesson in the circumstances and political atmosphere of how Hitler's Third Reich came to power. Miep says that she is not a hero; that she only did what a lot of people did, but after reading this book I cannot agree with her. What she and her husband did was extremely heroic and the Frank family was truly blessed to have them. She and her book are truly a treasure.

I had the pleasure of actually meeting Miep Gies in person when she came to Long Island in 1995. I brought my then 11-yr son to hear her story. I said to him "that is the face of courage!" He was VERY inspired. A diminutive lady, Miep Gies spoke with a broken English. We listened to her amazing story, told in a matter-of-fact way. (As I found out later, this was very much her character - she's very non pretentious in real life!) She wrote this book (along with Alison Leslie Gold) in the same manner. It started out with: "I am not a hero. I stand at the end of the long, long line of good Dutch people who did what I did or more..." The book was written without any malice - just a straightforward account of what she went through in that dark, dark period of mankind. It is very easy to read and, surprisingly, not depressing as one would expect. Highly recommended for people of any age.

Miep Gies passed away on January 11, 2010. She was 100 years old. This remarkable lady encompassed what human spirit was all about.

Wow. I just finished reading this title and was very moved. Like most of us, I read Anne Frank's diary in school while growing up, but reading the tale of the people who helped hide her, the risks they took became much more clear. Not only the Jewish group in the attic, but the Christians who secretly aided them, suffered great hardship and constant fear. It was Miep Gies who saved Anne's diary and other papers "until Anne returns". Anne's father, Otto Frank, eventually returned to them at the end of the war and received Anne's papers with some closure. Highly Recommended.

Audio Book; Awful yet inspiring story of the tragedy that befalls the Frank family and many others. Miep Gies is overwhelmingly brave and inspirational. The story is told with honesty and will pull at your heart. At times, I was astonished by the risks that Miep took and all that she did to try and save so many. I can only hope that in the same situation I would have as much courage.

The world has lost a special light this week with the loss of Mrs. Gies. As was just reported, she passed away this Monday at the age of 100 leaving behind her a legacy of bravery, compassion and gumption. Though by her own account, she was not a hero, every word written in her memoir exudes the very definition of the word.

She, together with her late husband and Mr. Frank's former employees, helped to hide two families from the Nazis during two years. Even in her own home, she and her husband hid yet another innocent victim from the Nazis, risking her life for the greater good. To very end of her days, she commemorated August 4th (the day of the raid) with silence and private mourning.

This excellent memoir stands as a testament to the life of a hero. Thank you for the quality of mercy that you showed the world.

Be prepared. This book will take your mind and body back to the war years. You will feel the suffering, not only of the Jews, but the Dutch people under German occupation.
It also serves as an independent witness to many of the events Anne described in her Diary. This was dramatized in a made for television movie about 10 years ago.
Miep and her husband Henk opened their home and hearts to Otto Frank for seven years after the war. They helped preserve his post-concentration camp sanity and gave him strength to live.
Had Miep read the Diary after Anne's capture, she states that she'd have had to burn it since it implicated people as hiders of Jews. Thankfully, Miep did not read it until years later. Even with Otto Frank's post-war encouragement, it was simply too painful for her to read. The miracle of the Diary's survival and gift to the world is due to Miep's remarkable courage and mysterious fate.

Strangely enough, I read this book before reading Anne Frank's diary. (It is really better to read Anne Frank's diary first.) It is the story of life in the attic from the other side. Miep Gies is the woman who helped Anne and her family stay in hiding by providing them with food and other necessary items. She put herself at great personal risk to do this...Their hiding would not have been possible without outside assistance.

This is a story of courage,sacrifice and hope...the good side of human nature portrayed in an otherwise very evil time. This book should be on your shelf next to Anne Frank's diary.

Miep Gies did a great job putting effort and feeling into this book. You can tell just how much danger and stress she had, a husband and a hidden man in her house, her husband in a Resistance group, she was helping to hide 8 people in her office. Even though it was many years later, Miep does a great job describing what life was like in the days of this cruel war.

Many people are familiar with the story of Anne Frank and her family during the Holocaust. But in the book Anne Frank Remembered, you get the unique opportunity of hearing the story from the woman who helped to hide the Frank family during this horrible time, Miep Gies. Mr. Frank and his wife and two daughters, Anne and Margot, moved to the Netherlands to escape the Nazis. Miep was an employ of Mr. Frank in the Netherlands. When the Nazis entered the Netherlands, they began to get worried. So Miep and her husband agreed to hide the family in the attic of Mr. Franks office building. They had to be very secretive about all of this. All of the trash that the Frank family accumulated had to be burned, and they couldn't walk at all during the day in case someone heard their footsteps. There was also a small window in the attic that they couldn't go near in case someone saw them. Even with all the precautions, they were still eventually caught, but never forgotten by Miep. I thought that this was an outstanding book. It tells a familiar story in a way that it has never been told before. Hearing it from the woman who helped hide the Franks was amazing. It is by far one of the best books I have ever read.

Miep Gies was a young newleywed from Vienna when her boss Otto Frank approached her about assisting him in hiding his family in the rooms above her office. The story she tells, at the age of 78, recalls the hows, whys, and wheres of what went on outside the Annex where young Anne Frank and her family hid for two years. Very readable.

A beautiful sensitive account of the part that miep gies played in hiding the frank family. This story goes far beyond that, and reveals the magnificent brave people who helped and their kindness and decency as human beings . A very honest and loving account of such a remarkable woman, and her love for her friends, the entire Frank family and a fascinating insight into Otto Frank and his determination to save his family and their friends.

There is no question that the reader can remain spellbound by the risk and sacrifice which Miep Gies undertook on behalf of the Frank family, and that underlying theme is inspirational, bordering on awe inspiring. Yet I found the overall work to be poorly written and unexpectedly boring.

I shall admit that I assumed that Miep's book would have the richness of detail which I found in the excellent DVD by the same name - one which I would highly recommend. That documentary, which includes ample interviews with Miep herself and various others, truly did show a 'larger picture' of Anne and her family. Most of even Miep's own contributions to the documentary are not contained in this book.

Most of Miep's reflections give a vivid, though hardly unique, picture of the hardships of the war years, focussing on herself, her husband, and several others who were providing or seeking 'hiding places.' There actually was little to 'flesh out' a picture of Anne Frank. Apparently no one had a clue as to much of what Anne was thinking as she composed her diary, and about all one learns of Anne from Miep is that she enjoyed celebrations, wrote a good deal, and had a vivacious nature.

Much of Miep's text deals with such difficulties as trying to obtain food - tragic, but very repetitive. There is hardly any information about those in hiding, and the general impression is that, though Miep was dedicated to her 'boss' Otto Frank and his family, she did not know them well, before or during the time of their hiding. This would seem unusual, since Miep does mention previous social contacts with the Franks, as well as her extended employment in their business - she probably knew much that was not shared. There are rare passages when Miep can capture tension, such as when her overnight stay at the Annex gives her some idea of the fright of those in hiding. But there is no insightful information about any of the Frank family or other inhabitants. We see Mrs Frank as pessimistic and somewhat taciturn - know that the dentist was disliked by Anne but cannot discover why - hear several references to Margot as very pretty. Full stop. Though Miep refers to daily visits and to Anne's speaking with her, the conversations must have been peripheral (nor is any content shared.) Apparently Miep knew nothing of, for example, Anne's infatuation with Peter, so prominent in the diary.

Despite the honourable loyalty Miep and Henk demonstrated, my admiration for this stemmed from knowing the circumstances, not from the book itself, which was largely dull. I suppose I had hoped for an extended picture of Anne and family based on the memories of one who knew them, but the information was often banal.

This is a highly recommended book about Anne Frank and her diary. Miep Gies tells her whole story from start to finish what it really like hiding from the Nazis. She was a friend of the Frank family from the beginning so this is first hand knowledge and a must read for anyone who is interested or has already read the Diary of Anne Frank. It deserves 10 stars but there were only 5 available to give. *****

For anyone who hasn't read any books concering the Frank family, then I suggest you do so now. This was a moving tale about what Meip went through helping hide the two families. I would give this book a 10 out of 10!!! Many parts of this book were very sad, but others brought joy to my heart. I highly suggest you read this book.

This is a well written and thoroughly moving memoir. Read in conjunction with the diary of Anne Frank you get such a feel for people from two different backgrounds on the same side of an abominable war. I loved her humbleness and it gives great insight into the pressure on those who were protecting others.

Otto Frank was sued by a New York scriptwriter, Meyer Levin, who claimed that Frank had taken large portions of a script he, Levin, had written and had not paid Levin for his work. The court ordered Frank to pay Levin $50,000. The line laid down by the government and the media is that Anne Frank is gospel, and anyone who suggests otherwise leaves himself open to criminal charges as well as to civil suits. Otto Frank himself made a regular habit of hauling Anne Frank detractors into German courts, which invariably decided in his favor, until recently, that is. When Hamburg pensioner Ernst Roemer, 76, began spreading the accusation that Otto Frank had himself written what he was passing off as his dead daughter’s diary, Frank sued him. Roemer appealed twice, until the court asked for the technical services, which carried out a careful analysis of the original manuscript of the diary with microscope and ultraviolet illumination in order to confirm its authenticity, in particular, to determine when it was written. The report of the technical experts was given to the court in April of this year, and it contained a bombshell: large portions of the alleged “diary” were written in ballpoint pen ink, which was not manufactured prior to 1951! The testimony of Hamburg graphologist Minna Bekker in an earlier trial was: “The handwriting of the diary in the three bound volumes , including all notes and additions on the glued-in pages as well as the 338 pages of loose material, including all corrections and insertions is identical . . .” It is now quite clear that Otto finished hoking up the “original” of the diary after he had found a publisher for what, in 1946, was nothing more than some rough notes and an idea in his head which seemed to have prospects for making him a lot of money with little effort. Just after the report of the Federal Criminal Office was given to the court, Otto Frank conveniently died, before he could be asked a number of very interesting questions.

Otto Frank was sued by a New York scriptwriter, Meyer Levin, who claimed that Frank had taken large portions of a script he, Levin, had written and had not paid Levin for his work. The court ordered Frank to pay Levin $50,000. The line laid down by the government and the media is that Anne Frank is gospel, and anyone who suggests otherwise leaves himself open to criminal charges as well as to civil suits. Otto Frank himself made a regular habit of hauling Anne Frank detractors into German courts, which invariably decided in his favor, until recently, that is. When Hamburg pensioner Ernst Roemer, 76, began spreading the accusation that Otto Frank had himself written what he was passing off as his dead daughter’s diary, Frank sued him. Roemer appealed twice, until the court asked for the technical services, which carried out a careful analysis of the original manuscript of the diary with microscope and ultraviolet illumination in order to confirm its authenticity, in particular, to determine when it was written. The report of the technical experts was given to the court in April of this year, and it contained a bombshell: large portions of the alleged “diary” were written in ballpoint pen ink, which was not manufactured prior to 1951! The testimony of Hamburg graphologist Minna Bekker in an earlier trial was: “The handwriting of the diary in the three bound volumes , including all notes and additions on the glued-in pages as well as the 338 pages of loose material, including all corrections and insertions is identical . . .” It is now quite clear that Otto finished hoking up the “original” of the diary after he had found a publisher for what, in 1946, was nothing more than some rough notes and an idea in his head which seemed to have prospects for making him a lot of money with little effort. Just after the report of the Federal Criminal Office was given to the court, Otto Frank conveniently died, before he could be asked a number of very interesting questions.