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Hermine "Miep" Gies is one of the Dutch citizens who hides the Franks, the van Daans, and Albert Dussel from the Nazis in an annex during World War II. Miep has worked with Otto Frank since 1933 and become a close friend of the family. Miep plays an essential role in keeping the annex running. To begin with, she brings news from the outside world about Jewish arrests and updates about the war, though these updates sometimes do more harm than good because they increase anxiety in the annex. Further, and most importantly, she uses ration coupons to supply the people in the annex with everything they need from food and clothes to games and books. Anne notes that she runs errands for them nearly every day and that she has so much to carry on her bike that she looks like a pack mule. It is essential to note that Miep risks imprisonment or worse by helping Anne and the rest of the annex’s inhabitants, as it is against the law to harbor Jews. Unsurprisingly, the laborious and dangerous work sometimes gets to Miep, and Anne reports that she often says that she “envies” the inhabitants of the annex because at least they have “peace and quiet.” However, Anne is critical of Miep’s complaints because she feels that Miep is obviously “not thinking about [their] fear.” Minor insensitivities aside, Miep displays remarkable bravery in her commitment to keeping as many Jews safe as she can. She also clearly has a genuine affection for Anne. For example, she manages to find a pair of “exceptionally beautiful” burgundy leather shoes with a medium-sized high heel as a gift for her—an impressive feat during wartime. While it is never stated in the text, it is possible that Miep wanted to give Anne a sense of normalcy because she has spent her formative years trapped in an annex instead of living the life of a normal teenage girl.
On August 4, 1944, the annex was discovered and the Franks, the van Daans, and Albert Dussel were arrested along with two of the men that helped to conceal them. Miep Gies and Bep Voskuijl (another secretary who worked with Miep) managed to avoid arrest. The two women found Anne’s diaries strewn all over the floor after the families were taken and Miep stowed them in a desk drawer for safekeeping. After the war, she gave the diaries, unread, to Otto Frank who would later publish the diary in his daughter’s honor.
