BBC Drama - Anne Frank Trust UK

Further
Resources
Interviews
&
FAQs
This document contains:
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An interview with ‘Secret Annexe’ helper Miep Gies
Frequently asked questions about Anne Frank, her life, and the
Holocaust
A biography of Eva Schloss, Anne’s posthumous step-sister
Interview with Miep Gies
When did you learn that the Frank family was planning to go into hiding?
'That must have been in the spring of 1942. Otto Frank, my boss, called
me and said, "Miep, would you come in for a minute?" I went in. He said,
"Sit down. Miep, I have to tell you something very important. It's really a
sort of secret. We're planning on going into hiding here. In this building.
Are you prepared to help us, to bring us food?" I answered, "Yes, of
course."
Why 'of course'?
'It seemed perfectly natural to me. I
could help these people. They were
powerless, they didn't know where to
turn. I always emphasize that we
were not heroes. We did our duty as
human beings: helping people in
need. Lots of people didn't help,
some because they were afraid. If
someone is afraid, you shouldn't
hold that against him or her. If he or
she honestly admits it, as a friend of
mine did, I think that takes courage.'
What was your job? And what were the jobs of the other helpers?
'Bep took care of bread and milk. Kugler and Kleiman kept the business
going and brought books and magazines along with them for the people in
hiding. And my job was fetching vegetables and meat. I still have a
shopping list that Mr. van Pels wrote for the butcher. Usually I threw them
away, but I found this after the war in one of my coat pockets. And I'll tell
you, I'm very glad I did.’
There were heavy penalties for helping people go into hiding. Were you
afraid?
'No. Especially not in the beginning. Later on I sat stewing about it and I
said to myself, "what are we going to do now…?" But caring for those people
was the main thing. Sometimes I lay awake at night and thought, "Oh those
poor people, hidden up there, how awful. How would I feel?" So I spent a
night up there, and found out! It was cramped, incredibly cramped! Mostly
it was knowing that you were shut in, that fact that you couldn't go outside.
'We, the helpers were aware that occasionally there were difficult moments
for each one of us, but we didn't talk about it. Everything just had to take its
course, because if you talked about it you'd begin to feel a certain pressure.
You'd spend the day thinking about the people in hiding, and that couldn't
happen. We had to appear as relaxed as possible to the rest of the world,
otherwise people would become suspicious.'
How did the people in hiding know what was happening in the outside
world?
'We kept the people informed about what was going on in the outside
world, and it wasn't very pleasant. There were roundups. People were
being taken away… 'Jan, my husband, said, "Miep, you don't always have to
tell them everything. You have to keep in mind that these people are
locked up. They can't go outside. Bad news depresses them more than it
does us. Limit yourself to sort of half and half."' 'So I did.
But Anne was
dissatisfied. She thought
that I knew more. And
when I had said all I was
going to say and was
about to leave, she would
take me aside, pretending
to want to chat. And she'd
say, "Miep, what's going
on…". She'd ask me so
much! Finally I couldn't
hold out any more, and I'd
tell her everything. That
was Anne. I had no idea
she was writing it all down. I mean, a child keeping a diary… You just don't
imagine that she's writing about such things… that people were being
gassed and murdered, for instance – she wrote that in her diary.
While they were in hiding they talked about what was happening and what
they had heard on the radio. But speaking for myself, I just couldn't believe
it. I couldn't believe that people were doing such things. Anne could.'
How did Anne develop during the years in hiding?
'Anne became more and more adult while they were in hiding. I never
noticed that she and Peter were in love. Anne was interested in what was
going on in the world. When I spoke to her I had the feeling that I was
speaking to an adult. I could tell her everything, including my own opinion. I
wasn't far removed from that age, so it really amazed me. And I'd say to
myself. "My goodness, child, so young and talking like that already."
'She always had questions for everybody. When I came downstairs,
Kleiman would ask, "Did she smother you with questions, too?" And then
I'd defend her again. I'd say, "Yes, so many I could barely breathe. But let's
be happy that she asks so many. Just imagine Anne saying, I can't take it
any more. I can see it all now: a crying Anne, a screaming Anne! How would
we handle that?" "Yes," said Kleiman, "you’re right."
Did you know that Anne was writing?
We all knew that she was keeping a diary, because we supplied her with
paper. But writing was something she did on her own. And I'm convinced
that neither her father nor her mother were ever present while she was
writing.
Once I had the feeling that I was disturbing her while she was writing. I
went into the Frank's bedroom and saw her sitting near the window,
writing. I thought, uh-oh, I'm disturbing her while she's busy with her diary.
It was a very uncomfortable situation. I tried to decide what to do. Should I
walk away or go to her? At that moment she glanced at me, with a look
that I'll never forget. This wasn't the Anne I knew, that friendly, charming
child. She looked at me with anger, rage. Then Anne stood up, slammed
her diary shut and glared at me with great condescension. "Yes," she said,
"I'm writing about you, too". I didn't know what to say. The only thing I could
manage was, "That ought to be interesting". (Continued on next page)
And I left and went back to the office. I sat down at
my desk and I just went to pieces. Fortunately Bep didn’t ask what had
happened, which is something that I'm glad about to this very day. Because I couldn't have talked about it, and I didn't want to talk about it. I felt
so small…'
(Continued from previous page)
Who betrayed the people in the Annexe?
'I have no idea. After the war they left no stone unturned, but they didn’t
find anything. It was suggested that the warehouse assistant might have
done it. Bep thought so, and Kleiman suspected it, too. I said, "No, he
didn't do it."
I think that someone in his or her innocence said something like, "I bet
there are people hiding in there." All it takes is one wrong set of ears to
hear something like that and it's all over.'
What question are you asked most frequently?
'Do I hate the Germans… Not any more, but right after the war, absolutely!
When German tourists visited the Secret Annexe, Otto Frank and Kleiman
would always shut me up in the office. They were afraid I'd start to curse.
And I would have, too, because I was furious at "the Germans".
One day Kleiman said to me, "Miep, there's a group coming tomorrow from
Cologne and I’m giving them a tour. But the group is very large and I can’t
take them all through the Secret Annexe at once. Would you help me?" I
said, "Sure." I didn't realize that it was a German group. Then the group
came and they all stood around me, and only then did it occur to me, this
is the enemy, these are the Germans. But I didn't want to embarrass Mr.
Frank, so I controlled myself. (Continued on next page)
Those people had all read the diary and they knew
the name Miep. They pounced on me with, "Sie sind Miep, die echte
Miep.." ("It's Miep, the real Miep..")
(Continued from previous page)
But then I started to rant and rave. I really
tore into them. The leader of the group
came up to me and laid his hand on my
arm to quiet me down. "Dear Frau
Miep…"(and this on top of everything else,
I thought) ".. none of these men fought in
the war. They were resistance fighters
and were
imprisoned in concentration camps. I myself spent three years in detention centers. When I was released my daughter
was three years old. I hadn't been allowed
to see her all that time. I still feel a threeyear gap in my life…" Then something inside me broke down. And since then my
image has changed.'
How do you look back on the war years?
'I often wonder how it could have happened, and why. I've struggled with
this a great deal. Once we were talking about it together and I said to Jan,
"This is what I think. We've been allowed to go on living. We have to keep
on going, no matter how difficult it is. We can't stand still, because those
who stand still fall by the wayside. "But you're just a human being. And a
human being has to have something to hold on to. So I continued, "In
those dark days during the war we didn't stand on the sidelines. We offered a helping hand, we committed our very lives. We couldn't have done
any more than that."
How did you save the diary of Anne Frank?
'It was August 4th, 1944. It was a quiet day in the office. We were all
working, and suddenly I looked up. The door was open and a short man
walked in. He pointed a revolver at me and said, "Stay seated! Don't move!"
Naturally I was petrified. He closed the door again and went away. I
couldn't see or hear what happened next because I had to stay seated at
my desk. Later I heard the people from upstairs coming down, very slowly. I
wasn't permitted to go to the window. I had to stay seated.
A few hours later we went up to the Franks' bedrooms. And there Bep and I
saw Anne’s diary papers lying on the floor. I said, "Pick them up!" Bep
stood there staring, frozen. I said, "Pick them up! Pick them up! "We were
afraid, but we did our best to collect all the papers. Then we went
downstairs. And there we stood, Bep and I. I asked, "What now, Bep?" She
answered, "You're the oldest. You hold on to them." So I did. I didn't read
Anne's diary papers, although Bep and Kleiman were eager to take a quick
look. I said, "No, these may belong to a child, but even children have a
right to privacy." It's a good thing I didn't because if I had read them I would
have had to burn them. Some of the information in them was dangerous.'
This interview is taken from the Anne Frank House website: http://www.annefrank.org
Frequently Asked Questions
How many versions of Anne’s diary are there?
There are three versions.
Anne started to write her first diary on her thirteenth birthday, June 12th
1942. This diary she wrote for herself, and is referred to as version A.
After hearing on the radio that the Dutch government-in-exile were
collecting witness accounts of the war, she was inspired to write a diary for
publication. She edited and rewrote her first diary, taking out parts she
deemed uninteresting and adding in others from memory. This became
version B. She also changed the names of the others in hiding with her.
When Otto Frank decided to have Anne’s diary published, he combined
parts from both versions: this became version C.
What language did Anne write
her diary in?
She wrote it in Dutch.
Why do some people go under
different names in the diary
than in real life?
When Anne wrote version B of
the diary she invented
pseudonyms (made up
names) for the people featured. When Otto Frank, Anne’s father, had the
diary published he chose to give the Frank family their own names but followed Anne’s wishes with the others.
How did the diary get published?
Meip Gies, one of the helpers and Otto Frank’s secretary, found the diary
in the annexe after the family were taken. She kept the diary and locked
away. When it became clear that Anne had died she gave it to Otto Frank,
who had survived the war.
Otto, after long deliberation and discussion, decided to publish his
daughter’s diary, using parts of versions A and B. This became version
C. Many publishers turned down the chance to publish Anne’s diary as a
book so soon after the end of the war. The first 1500 copies were
eventually published in the summer of 1947.
Is Anne Frank a ‘typical’ victim of the Holocaust?
In many ways Anne is an atypical victim. Her family had the foresight and
means to be able to move away from Germany and go into hiding, all
together. This was unusual. Most families who decided to hide were split
up and many didn’t think that things could get worse and so didn’t even try
to hide and were subsequently captured.
Anne Frank lived in relative
comfort, albeit it in cramped
conditions, and was able to
maintain her education and
activities, such as writing her
diary or reading a steady supply
of books, which would not have
been an option for most. The
Frank family also had a dedicated
and trustworthy set of helpers this was immensely important in
their survival until 1944. It is only when Anne was deported to Westerbork
and then Auschwitz and then Bergen-Belsen, that she became more of a
‘typical’ Holocaust victim, in that she died in a concentration camp of starvation and disease.
How did the Frank family know the other people who were in hiding with
them?
The Frank and van Pels families knew each other from 1937 as Otto Frank
and Mr van Pels were in business together. Otto Frank had hired Mr van
Pels for his vast knowledge of spices used in the butcher’s trade.
In Amsterdam, Fritz Pfeffer worked as a
dentist, where he had a patient named
Miep Gies. On November 16, 1942,
thanks to Miep, 53 year old Fritz Pfeffer
became the eighth person to move into
hiding in the Secret Annexe.
How did the Frank family support themselves during their time in hiding?
Otto Frank’s business was prosperous and the Frank family found
themselves relatively wealthy prior to going into hiding. As their resources
dwindled the helpers played a larger role in supporting those in hiding. Mr
Kugler bulk bought spices for the business and didn’t record them,
passing the money directly to Otto Frank. He also bought ration coupons
on the black market to further support those in hiding.
How were the Secret Annexe inhabitants
discovered?
The Secret Annexe inhabitants were discovered
on the 4th of August 1944. Someone had tipped
off the Dutch Security Police. At this time people
were offered rewards for reporting Jews in
hiding. It is not known who reported the hiders,
although it was reportedly a woman who made
the phone call to the police.
The reward was never collected.
What is the Secret Annexe like now?
The Secret Annexe was preserved by Otto Frank and Mr. Kleiman and
opened in 1960 as the Anne Frank House. The Museum has had some
renovations but the Annexe is still in its authentic state. In 2010, the Anne
Frank House turned 50 years old.
To find out more about the house, please visit www.annefrank.org.
(Nb: The Anne Frank Trust cannot answer queries on visits to the museum)
How can I recognise Anne’s legacy and
make a difference myself?
The Anne Frank Declaration is established
to offer individuals a chance to pledge
their support to standing up to prejudice
and hatred.
For more information and to download a
copy for yourself or your students, visit:
www.annefrank.org.uk/declaration
Who is Eva Schloss?
Eva Schloss is the ‘posthumous’ step-sister of Anne Frank, and a founder
of the Anne Frank Trust. More information about Eva can be found on the
following pages.
Eva Schloss
Eva Schloss, born Eva Geiringer, is the ‘posthumous’ step-sister of Anne
Frank.
Eva Geiringer was born in
Vienna, Austria in 1929, a
younger sibling for her
brother, Heinz. Her mother
Fritzi and father Erich came
from assimilated middle
class Jewish families.
After the Germans marched
through Vienna in 1938,
Eva’s family emigrated to
first to Belgium, then to
Holland. It was there that
Eva came into contact with Anne Frank for the first time. Anne lived in the
same neighbourhood and Eva remembers Anne with her friends, Sanne
and Hanne, as an “inseparable trio” who liked to whisper about boys and
look at movie magazines.
The Nazis began to enforce many restrictions on the Jewish community
and Eva’s father Erich began to discuss the possibility of the family going
into hiding. He thought that they would have a better chance to survive if
the family split up into two groups.
Like the Frank family, Eva’s family went into hiding in 1942 when Heinz
received a notice to show up for labour camp detail. He was the same age
as Margot Frank. The Dutch underground helped the families finalise the
arrangements for their hiding places with a teacher taking in Eva and her
On returning to Amsterdam, Eva introduced her mother to Otto Frank. On
November 10th, 1953 Eva’s mother married Otto Frank and they moved to
Basel, Switzerland.
Eva now lives in North London and has been married to Zvi for over fifty
years. Eva regularly visits schools, universities and other institutions to talk
about her experiences during the Holocaust.
The play, ‘And Then They Came for Me: Remembering the World of Anne
Frank’ by James Still deals with the lives of Eva and her posthumous stepsister, Anne Frank and other teenagers in the Holocaust.
In 2005 Eva wrote The Promise with Barbara Powers. The book includes a
strong message about a chain of goodwill that has been appreciated by
people of all ages. She has also written a book titled Eva’s Story together
with Evelyn-Julia Kent.
Eva is a founding trustee of the Anne Frank Trust UK.