The Last of Anne Frank's Protectors
Dies at 100

Miep Gies, who along with her husband hid Anne Frank's whole family and four other Jews from the Nazis for over two years in occupied Amsterdam, died Monday night.

Sadly, she could not prevent the Nazis from eventually finding Anne and her family, but she preserved the one piece of Anne that was left behind; her diary, which has helped cast a human face and a unique, heartbreaking child's perspective on the Holocaust for generations. Both actions on the part of Mrs. Gies can only be described as true heroism, even though she would tell you her efforts were a failure.

They most certainly were not. Evil could only be held at bay for so long outside that house, but thanks to people like Miep Gies as well as soldiers with guns, it was eventually defeated and the proliferation of stores like Anne's have given the world powerful reminders of the horrors of intolerance. Mrs. Gies lived a good, very long life, and now she can rest with Anne....