A Great Lady

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I just read an obituary for a 100 year old Dutch lady named Miep Gies. She and her husband were the couple who sheltered the family of Anne Frank and another Jewish family in Rotterdam when it was occupied by the Germans in WW2.

She had been an employee of the Franks and gave them sanctuary (along with a few other employees) when the Gestapo were "cleansing" Holland of Jews and it was she who preserved the famous "Diary of Anne Frank" and returned it to her family after the end of the war.

I was struck by the posting here in recent times of stories like "Team Meeting" by Andrea and the "Tommy Browder" series by Randalynn which highlighted acts of decency and here we have a real-life example of exactly that.

This lady later said;

"I am not a hero. I stand at the end of the long, long line of good Dutch people who did what I did and more....much more..."

In my book she was a hero,

Joanne

Comments

She Was A Great Woman

jengrl's picture

She was a great woman. I have no doubt that the Frank family welcomed her on the other side with joy and many hugs. She was right about so many heroes. Oskar Schindler was another that comes to mind.

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Heroes and heroines

come in many shapes,sizes, politics, and mindsets. This woman, and I see that Oskar Schindler was mentioned in a commet, were heroes in the minds of many. In my mind too. Thank you for posting this.

"With confidence and forbearance, we will have the strength to move forward."

Love & hugs,
Barbara

"If I have to be this girl in me, Then I have the right to be."

"With confidence and forbearance, we will have the strength to move forward."

Love & hugs,
Barbara

"If I have to be this girl in me, Then I have the right to be."

I watched the report last evening

Andrea Lena's picture

....even though she lived a long and satisfying life, I was saddened by her passing, because, as you say, she was a hero. And as you also noted, she would be the last to claim that title. The world is a poorer place at her passing. May we all be as daring and as humble as her. Thank you Joanne for bringing this to our attention.

You can read about her here: http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/biography/Miep_G...

She was born for all the wrong reasons but grew up for all the right ones.
Possa Dio riccamente vi benedica, tutto il mio amore, Andrea

  

To be alive is to be vulnerable. Madeleine L'Engle
Love, Andrea Lena