The woman who rescued Anne Frank's diaries from oblivion, Miep Gies, has died at the age of 100 following a brief illness. She was the last survivor of the people who helped the Jewish Frank family when they were hiding from German persecution in WWII.
When an informer told the Nazis about the Franks' hideout in Amsterdam in 1944, the family members were transported to concentration camps and killed. Only Anne's father Otto survived.
Miep Gies found Anne Frank's diaries. She kept the documents in a desk drawer for Anne's return. Once the war was over and it was confirmed that the girl had perished in Bergen-Belsen, she gave the diaries and notebooks back to Anne's father, who had the diary published in 1947.
Miep and her husband Jan Gies became celebrities in the Netherlands and their courage was recognised with awards from several international organisations.
Until the age of 100, Miep was in reasonably good health and remained deeply involved with the remembrance of Anne Frank. "I just want to warn young people to be on their guard against a return of Nazism," she explained in one of her last interviews.
Miep Gies on her 100th birthday (ANP photo)
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