-- Anne Frank (May 8, 1944)
As people living in the 21st century, nearly 70 years removed from the Holocaust, most of us have never learned about that dark period in history without the Diary as our guide. Our road to Auschwitz begins in the Secret Annex. Anne Frank's story is so familiar to us that we often take her -- and the fact that we know about her -- for granted. But without the incredible courage and quick instinct of Miep Gies, who furtively returned to the Annex after the Nazis raided it to collect Anne's personal papers off the floor, Anne Frank and her diary would be unknown to us today -- another name and another story lost among the staggering millions.
When Miep Gies, the only living member of the brave group who helped hide Anne Frank and her family, died on Monday, we lost our last living link to the world of Anne's diary -- a world in which Miep and the other helpers not only provided the hidden Jews with the essentials they needed to survive, but stood by them as friends and protectors. Miep always insisted that her wartime deeds weren't special or heroic, just reflexive. But the truth is that what she did was brave and didn't have nearly enough parallels. We can only imagine how history might have turned out had more people in occupied Europe taken a similar approach toward their Jewish friends, instead of looking the other way while the Nazis decimated an entire people.
In this age of moral ambiguity, when right and wrong have been reduced to various shades of gray, Miep Gies symbolized the impact an ordinary person who strives to do the right thing could have on a world where so much evil is done. How many of us, having read the Diary, have pondered our own responsibilities toward others? And by rescuing Anne's words from historical oblivion, Mrs. Gies made a contribution to the study of the Holocaust that is impossible to calculate as long as people continue to remember -- and I hope that is forever.
Rust in vrede, Miep.
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