Anne Frank Remembered: Review

Anne Frank Remembered: Review

Anne Frank Remembered is the autobiography of Miep Gies, the woman who helped the Frank family survive during their two years in hiding. Her book is a primary source or first hand account of the persecution of Jewish people in Nazi occupied Holland during the second world war. It is also the first hand account of the hiding of Jews such as the Frank family, the Van Daan family, and Dr.
Albert Dussel during this time.
In regard to the book's autobiographical format, the author, Miep Gies, does not present the reader with a clear thesis statement. Instead, throughout the book the author discusses her main views toward the actions of the Nazis and their oppression of the Jewish people. Her disapproval of German Nazi actions is evident in the following quotation, when she was asked to join the Nazi
Girls' Club:

" 'How can I join such a club?' I icily asked. 'Look at what the
Germans are doing to the Jews in Germany.' ...Let her take a good look at me and see with her own eyes that some 'Aryan' woman was not to be swept in by the Nazis." (Gies, p. 41, 1987).

The main source of background to the author's viewpoint is her own story.
In order to further discuss her main points and views, a summary of her story must be given.
The book began with a brief history of the childhood of Miep Gies. She was born in Vienna, Austria in 1909, where she lived with her parents until the age eleven year. She was then sent to Amsterdam by a program in the aid of undernourished and sick children and was to be adopted by a Dutch family. She became used to the Dutch way of life as she grew older and soon she began to consider herself Dutch, not Viennese.
Her association with the Frank family began when she was given a job with the Pectacon Company, owned and operated by Mr. Otto Frank. His company made and sold pectin, which was used for making jam. Miep's first part of the job was to make jam with different formulas of pectin. After becoming an expert jam maker, she was placed at a desk in the office to do office work. She became very close to the Frank family and was invited to their home regularly for meals.
She also began a relationship with a man named Jan, whom she later married.
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...e Nazis were doing to people. It indicates an intended audience of most likely those who have already read The Diary of
Anne Frank and are looking for further investigation on the topic. However, it is not required that the reader has read The Diary of Anne Frank before reading this book. Miep Gies starts from the very beginning of her association with the
Frank family and completes the story of their life. Although this book is recommended to anyone who is interested in this topic, the book may also be directed towards those of Jewish decent who experienced similar instances and want to find out what happened to others.
In final evaluation, I have found this book to be very convincing, as it is a true story. The reader is left at the end of the book to draw their own opinions on the topic and the author's account of the story. I found that the author's use of evidence in her book was very good because her main source was her own story as an eye witness, with pictures and copies of documents to prove that the information is true. The book is very useful in understanding the issue of the persecution of Jews during the Holocaust in the second world war.