Miep Gies passed away this week...

[Paul F.]

Miep Gies passed away on January 11 (Monday), at the age of 100.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miep_Gies

http://teacher.scholastic.com/frank/miep.htm

(A minor planet was named after her)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/99949_Miepgies

[blooz]

A true heroine.

[freeradical]

I've been to the Anne Frank House.

Even though I've been to Germany several times, I've never been to any of the concentration camps such as Dachau.

I would rather see something that affirms there are good people.

There are people who really do need to see a place like that...

[kanesa]

"The Diary of Anne Frank" was one of those books that affected my life when I was a young girl growing up. I cried when I finished the book. It was the first time I truly understood what the holocaust was about.

RIP Miep Gies

[Paul F.]

"The Diary of Anne Frank" was one of those books that affected my life when I was a young girl growing up. I cried when I finished the book. It was the first time I truly understood what the holocaust was about.

Anyone who didn't, I think, should be observed psychiatrically for signs of being a serial killer...

[chopper]

They did a story and interview on her on NPR and re-ran it this week. It was very moving. She kept that diary, unread, in a drawer until after the war.

[DavidS]

In 1996, I took two months off from medical school before graduation and went to Europe by myself. I flew home from Amsterdam and made sure to visit the Anne Frank house while there. It was a stark contrast to the other days I spent there.

Prior to Amsterdam, I spent about 12 hours in Germany. I only went to Munich for the purpose of going to Dachau.

They were both very moving experiences for me, as my grandfather was killed at Aushwitz and my father was hidden as a child in the French countryside. Earlier on the trip I had visited many of the places where he lived, both before, during, and after the war.

RIP to one of the Righteous Among the Nations
http://www1.yadvashem.org/yv/en/righteou...s/gies.asp

[N-OS X-tasy!]

Some of you may remember the trip I took to Europe in '03. One of my reasons for the trip, and the reason I was in Amsterdam, was to visit the Van Gogh Museum, but as luck would have it my hotel (selected at random upon arrival in the city) was located around the corner from the Anne Frank house, which I had completely forgotten was also located in Amsterdam. I eagerly added visiting the house to my Amsterdam "to-do" list.

Entering the Frank's hiding space through the hidden door; peering out the windows Anne and her family couldn't; being in her room, just as she left it, the walls still papered with pictures of movie stars taken from magazines of that era; as I moved through spaces I'd read about 25 years previous, very powerful sensations swept over me. And finally, at the end of the tour, is The Diary. This was one of the most powerful experiences of my life.

Another of my reasons for that trip was to visit Auschwitz/Birkineau, which I did a week or so after visiting the Frank house. Again, easily one of the most powerful experiences of my life. I took but one photograph during my visit, one that, for me, does affirm the power of life over death and good over evil:



Godspeed, Mrs. Gies.

[TheCaber]

Drew Curtis' Fark.com had this item last Monday:

Mon January 11, 2010
...
Miep Gies dies at age 100. Beaker inconsolable (news.bbc.co.uk) (109)
...

[Ombligo]

Being a historian of the Second World War, Miep Gies is personally responsible for preserving a document which records an important part of that history. Her efforts have helped generations understand the horror innocent people suffered at the whims of of power hungry megalomaniacs.

The world owes Mrs. Gies a debt that can never be fully repaid.

Rest peacefully dear lady.