A truly extraordinary person

By Fiona Boyd |

In life there are some people who can be known by those who matter, but never register as ‘famous’. Who in some ways could be said to ‘fly under the radar’ and in being unobtrusive, not terribly noticeable and by remaining clear-headed and not influenced by the pack, are able to do quite extraordinary things on behalf of the human race.

One such person died recently – and hers is not a story that I had known until I read the obituary for Miep Gies in The Age last week. I’ve had a hunt around for it on The Age website, but can’t find it, suspect they’ve already pulled it down, so for some background on Miep Gies, what better place to look than Wikipedia!

Like many of my era I read “The Diary of Anne Frank”, the young Jewish girl’s account of being hidden in a secret annex at her father’s business premises and supported with supplies by Miep Gies and her husband Jan, in literature class as a teenager. I found it a wonderful, poignant book and was truly wrenched when our teacher informed us that Anne had not survived and that she had perished in a concentration camp, not a year after the last entry in the diary.

Inspire yourself by goodness - Miep Gies, Mother Teresa, Nelson Mandela. The good do not need to die young!

Miep Gies is the one who had scavenged bits of paper and writing tools for Anne while she was in hiding and had noticed and encouraged her literary ability. Gies had been a secretary to Anne’s father Otto before the outbreak of the war and the persecution of Jews and Otto Frank had owned and run a small spice business in Amsterdam. Otto had asked if she would help the family if he hid them in an unused part of his company’s building and Miep Gies without hesitation agreed.

Anne Frank writes in her diary of the kindness of Miep Gies, but hers is not a name that I had internalized or decided was noteworthy, until I read her obituary. It’s not often that I’m moved to tears, however in reading about the life and actions of this remarkable woman I couldn’t help but be moved by the total inspired justness of her actions, her ability to not participate in the ‘zeitgeist’, the fear and terror that lead people to betray their friends, associates, employers and employees all because of a terrible belief system cramming the cultural airwaves that denied the humanity of a whole group of people based on their culture and religion. Miep Gies made up her own mind about the value of others and her actions were in accordance with her own internal beliefs.

On the day the Frank family was arrested by the Gestapo after being betrayed by an informant, Miep Gies went to local Nazi headquarters to bargain for the Frank family’s release, but was unsuccessful. She next searched and found Anne Frank’s diary notes and scraps of paper, determined that she would keep them safe for Anne and return them to her at war’s end. What on earth gave her the determination to dare to deal directly with a terrifying and totally unsympathetic enemy, I have no idea, but what amazing strength of character this woman must have had!

Anne was not to return and perished at the Bergen Belsen concentration camp. The only surviving family member was Otto whom Miep Gies gave Anne’s diary notes to at the end of the war and declared that here was Anne’s legacy to him.

Miep Gies must have been a deeply connected and compassionate woman, as she and her husband Jan lived with Otto Frank for the seven years after the war, thus providing a home, stability and friendship for a Holocaust survivor, at a time when many survivors found themselves homeless and without resources or support of any kind.

Otto published “The Diary of Anne Frank” in 1947 and the rest is history as they say, it is the bestselling book ever after The Bible.

It is clear in reading about Miep Gies and having read Anne Frank’s diary that the two had a special relationship, Gies has described Anne as just the sort of daughter she would wish to have. As destiny would have it, Miep Gies spent the rest of her years after the war devoted to Anne Frank’s legacy and answering letters from all over the world. And on January 11 2010 Miep Gies died at the age of 100.

She has been honoured by having a minor planet named after her (how many so-called famous people can claim that!), been awarded by the governments of Germany and the Netherlands and the Israeli Holocaust Museum , Yad Vashem has given Miep Gies the title of “Righteous Gentile”.

So why this post on Miep Gies?

Well it strikes me that we have far too few people like Miep Gies in our lives and our businesses – a loyal secretary who worked her way up in the Frank family business and then helped shelter and sustain her employer’s family and then her employer when circumstances had changed. Someone who doesn’t need to be noticed, but who knows exactly when is the right time to speak out and make a claim on behalf of others, the one who knows what information is vital to the future and does not discount it coming from the pen of a 14 year old girl.

A truly remarkable woman, and one with a humility that is never seen these days. She says in the book she published in 1987, Anne Frank Remembered “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 – during those dark and terrible times years ago, but always like yesterday in the heart of those of us who bear witness.”

And if the tables were turned on you and circumstances changed dramatically as they did for Otto Frank, how many of your key people, your employees are likely to reveal the humanity and loyalty and amazing character of Miep Gies?

Sadly I suspect, the answer to that question, will be, not many. But if you believe you have one or two of these amazing people on your team, be sure to let them know you treasure their loyalty and goodness– you never know when you may really need it!

And it’s not true – the good do not (necessarily) die young.

Image: Flickr art makes me smile

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