News of: Wednesday, January 13 2010,

Miep Gies, the last living helper of Anne Frank died

Miep Gies, the last living helper of Anne Frank died on Monday, at the age of 100 years.

Miep Gies worked as a secretary at Prinsengracht 263 (now the Anne Frank House), and brought food to Anne Frank and her family, who were hiding in the back of the house.
She helped until August 4, 1944, when Anne Frank and her family were betrayed, and taken away by the Nazis. They had been in hiding since the spring of 1942.

When Otto Frank, Anne's father and only survivor of the group of 8 people hiding in Prinsengracht 263, returned from Germany after the war, Miep Gies gave him the now world-famous diary she had found.
He decided to publish the diary in 1947.
Since then, Anne Frank's diary has been translated into more than 60 languages, and it is the most-read book in the world, after the Bible.

Mrs Gies held numerous lectures in Holland and abroad about her war experiences. She and her husband Jan Gies (who was an active member of the resistance during the war) received the Israeli Yad Vashem award, and several other awards.

She spent her last years in Hoorn, about 50 km north of Amsterdam. This was kept a secret, as she did not want to receive unexpected guests.

Miep Gies has her own website, in Dutch, English and German, with more information about her life.

On the website of the Anne Frank House is a condolence register.