[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 3 (Wednesday, January 13, 2010)]
[House]
[Page H46]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




       HONORING THE LIFE OF MIEP GIES AND HER IMPACT ON THE WORLD

  (Mr. COHEN asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute.)
  Mr. COHEN. Madam Speaker, last week, a lady died, named Miep Gies, a 
Dutch lady. She died at age 100.
  The reason her death is worth noting is that she was a Dutch Catholic 
who, with her husband, hid the Frank family--Anne Frank, Otto Frank, 
that family--and another Jewish family for 25 months in Amsterdam when 
the Nazi regime came and was taking Jewish people from Amsterdam and 
throughout Europe to concentration camps. For 25 months, their family 
protected the Franks. They were then betrayed, the Frank family, and 
sent to concentration camps where all died but Otto Frank.
  Ms. Gies found the diary of Anne Frank. She preserved it and gave it 
to Otto Frank when he was released from his concentration camp--the 
only surviving Frank. It was published, the story of a young girl and 
her hopes during the Nazi occupation of Amsterdam and the persecution 
of Jews.
  There are people today who do not believe that the Anne Frank diary 
was real. It was indeed real. This lady saved it. She saved history and 
taught us what people can do, just ordinary citizens, in acts of 
heroism to protect others in the face of injustice. I am pleased to 
recognize her in the United States Congress. We are lucky she came this 
way. She had a significant impact on the world.

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