Bystanders In The Film 'Dear Kitty'

The documentary, “Dear Kitty” revolves around Miep Gies, and her recollection of helping Anne Frank and her family go into hiding. Miep, was a dutch citizen who was hired by Anne’s father, Otto Frank. In the summer of 1942, Mr. Frank had initially hired Miep to be the secretary of the business he managed, but with the Nazis ceasing all the Jews from Holland, he would soon need her help with hiding his family. Miep, along with the other four staff members, agreed to help. The Frank family hid in an attic above the business where both Miep and Mr Frank worked at. Miep and the rest of the workers acted normal during regular work hours so they would not look suspicious. Unfortunately, Anne and her family, besides her father, were found and taken

Those who claimed to not be involved can easily be categorized as being bystanders. A bystander is a person who does not help or support either side. According to Holocaust Encyclopedia, bystanders were German and European populations. In the documentary, Anne explains in her diary how she witnessed people watch her and her family with pity as they were on their way to hide (Dear Kitty, 1999, 12:33). Bystanders display a form of conformity behavior. In chapter six, conformity is defined as a change in behavior or a belief to accord with others (Myers 188). The reason why conformity can be linked to bystanders is because large groups of people witnessed Jewish people being mistreated in public and chose not to stand up for them. For example, during the phase of mass murder, bystanders did not offer shelter to Jews seeking hiding places (Holocaust Encyclopedia 2016). In another class discussion, we discussed how people often decide not to help when they see other people not help either; this is an example of the bystander effect. The Bystander effect is when more people witness an event; the less likely it is that anyone will provide aid. Chapter twelve refers to what makes us more or less likely to help others. For example, similarity is one of the reasons we decide to help others. In this case, the bystanders did not share any similarities with the Jews. The bystanders provide this evidence

Miep was a dutch citizen who had built a relationship with the Frank family after working for Mr. Frank. When Mr. Frank asked Miep if she was willing to help him and his family hide, she did not hesitate to say yes. In the documentary, Miep says to Mr. Frank, “I thought it went without saying”(Dear Kitty, 1999, 1:50). Miep displays qualities of an altruistic person. Altruism is a motive to increase another’s welfare without conscious regard for one’s self-interests (Myers 440. According to Bio, Miep had a difficult early childhood. Miep was a very ill child and for that reason her family sent her away to be cared for by a foster family (Biography 2014). I believe that because she was helped early on in life, she could relate to the Frank family because she was once in that same place. In class we discussed the term, social exchange. The Social exchange theory is the theory that human interactions are transactions that aim to maximize one’s rewards and minimize one’s costs (Myers 441). In this case, Miep chose to help for internal reward. Internal reward is doing something and not expecting anything in return. Miep was not going to get paid or recognized for her good deed. Another reason why Miep chose to help Mr. Frank was because of the moral code known as reciprocity norm. Reciprocity norm is an expectation that people