Miep Gies - Santrouschitz
Miep Gies was an employee of Opekta and one of the helpers of the people hiding in the Secret Annex.
Person
Miep Gies was born as Hermine Santrouschitz on 15 February 1909 in Vienna, the daughter of Karoline Santrouschitz.[1] The baptism took place on 19 February 1909 by Father Mayr in a church at Alservorstadt 195. Godmother was Hermine Lindner.[2] According to official documents, only the name of Miep's mother is known, although Johan Eipeldauer (or Apeltauer) recognized paternity in court on 8 April 1909.[3]
Because of food shortages in post-war Vienna, she was sent on a transport of Austrian children to the Netherlands in late 1920 to gain strength. She was taken in by the family of Laurens Nieuwenburg and lived with them on Atjehstraat in Leiden. In the spring of 1924 the family moved to Amsterdam and lived at various addresses in the Rivierenbuurt district.
In Leiden and Amsterdam, Miep attended public primary school and then went to the three-year ULO (secondary education) course on Mauritskade. After school she went to work as a typist at Schellekens' Borduur- en Plisseerateliers, where she met Jan Gies. By late 1932 she lost her job and after a period of unemployment went to work for Opekta in October 1933.
When Austria was annexed by Germany in early 1938, Miep became a German citizen against her will. Marrying Jan Gies in order to become Dutch was impossible, because his first marriage had not yet been annulled. She applied for naturalisation in 1939. At the end of 1940 she withdrew this request, because Jan's divorce was virtually settled. They got married in July 1941, and in 1950 their only child Paul was born.
In 1942, Miep was one of the four office employees at Otto Frank's companies. She was therefore asked to contribute to the care of the people in hiding in the Secret Annex. One of her tasks was to collect the shopping list in the morning and to deliver the shopping - if available - at noon. During the raid on 4 August 1944, she was not arrested, despite the suspicions of SS officer Silberbauer.
When Otto Frank returned to Amsterdam on 3 June 1945, he first went to live with Miep and Jan Gies. He continued to live with them until he left for Switzerland in 1952. In 1972 she received the Yad Vashem decoration at Otto Frank's nomination. After Frank's death in 1980, Miep took over his public role with regard to Anne's diary to a certain extent. In 1987 her biography, written by Alison Leslie Gold, was published. After Jan's death in 1993, Miep moved to Hoorn. She lived there independently until she was moved to a nursing home after a fall in 2009. There she died shortly before her 101st birthday.[4]
Footnotes
- ^ Stadsarchief Amsterdam, Dienst Bevolkingsregister, Persoonskaarten (toegangsnummer 30408): Persoonskaart H. Santrouschitz.
- ^ Anne Frank Stichting (AFS), Anne Frank Collectie (AFC), reg. code A_Gies_I_023: "Geburts- und Tauf-Schein", gedateerd 29 januari 1941. Achter de naam van Hermine Lindner is iets gekrabbeld waarvan niet duidelijk is of het ook een persoonsnaam is.
- ^ AFS, AFC, reg. code A_Gies_I_027: Afschrift 2 mei 1941. Echter blijkt dit niet uit andere officiële akten zoals haar persoonskaart en haar trouwboekje waarin alleen haar moeder is opgenomen. AFS, AFC, reg. code A_Gies_I_016: Familieboekje (trouwboekje) op naam van Gies, Jan Augustus en Santrouschitz, Hermine (kopie).
- ^ Literature: Miep Gies with Alison Leslie Gold, Anne Frank remembered: the story of Miep Gies who helped to hide the Frank family, New York, NY: Simon and Schuster, 1987 (reprinted several times); David Barnouw, Santrouschitz, Hermine, in: Digitaal Vrouwenlexicon van Nederland, https://resources.huygens.knaw.nl/vrouwenlexicon/lemmata/data/Santrouschitz [20/05/2016].