No, Miep Gies did not betray the Franks. The Franks were betrayed by Arnold van den Bergh to save his own family.
Anne was a German-born young Jewish girl who penned a diary, in which she detailed her life in hiding under National Socialist German Worker’s Party persecution.
She is a famous diarist who documented everyday life from her family’s secret hiding place in an Amsterdam attic.
Her story is the subject of National Geographic’s newest biographical drama miniseries, A Small Light, which premiered on May 1, 2023. It is available to stream on Hulu and Disney+.
The series showcases the risks Miep Gies, who hid Frank and her family in an annex, and other helpers took to protect the Jewish family of the Secret Annex.
The show follows Gies and her transformation from a carefree woman to a responsible person who risked her own life to help others.
It stars Bel Powley as Miep Gies, Liev Schrieber as Otto Frank, Joe Cole as Jan Gies, Amira Casar as Edith Frank, Billie Boullet as Anne, and Ashley Brooke as Margot Frank.
Who Betrayed Anne Frank And Her Family And Why?
Arnold van den Bergh may have betrayed Anne Frank and her family to save his family. Arnold was a prominent Jewish notary.
Historians have spent decades over how the Netherlands authorities discovered the diarist and her family. She passed away in a concentration camp in 1945, aged 15.
On August 4, 1944, police raided a warehouse and apprehended eight Jews hiding in an annex behind a bookcase. Among those caught was Frank, a 15-year-old teenager.
The diary she kept during her confinement is now one of the most significant accounts of the Holocaust, yet the circumstances of her getting caught have always been a mystery.
It is believed that an anonymous tip guided the authorities to the secret hiding annex, but despite decades of research, the informant’s identity has never been proven.
In 2022, The Betrayal of Anne Frank: A Cold Case Investigation detailed the findings of Vince Pankoke’s investigation and cited van den Bergh, a Jewish businessman, as a likely culprit.
A team, including a former FBI agent, said the Jewish notary Arnold probably gave up the Franks to save his family.
He was a member of Amsterdam’s Jewish Council, a body launched to implement Nazipolicy in Jewish areas. It dissolved in 1943, and its members were dispatched to various concentration camps.
Later, the team found Arnold was not sent to a camp and was instead residing in Amsterdam as normal during the time.
He soon lost all his series of protections immuning him from having to go to the camps.
“He had to provide something valuable to the Nazis that he’s had contact with to let him and his wife at that time stay safe,” Pankoke, a former FBI agent, told CBS 60 Minutes.
In the files of an earlier investigator, researchers found a copy of an anonymous note sent to Otto identifying van den Bergh as his betrayer.
Mr. Pankoke told that anti-Semitism may be the reason the discovery was never made public. “Perhaps he just felt that if I bring this up again… it’ll only stoke the fire further,” he added.
What Happened To The Family That Hid Anne Frank?
Johannes Kleiman, Miep Gies, Bep Voskuijl, and Victor Kugler were the only employees who knew of the people in hiding.
Voskuijl’s father, Johannes Hendrick Voskuijl, and Gies’ husband, Jan Gies, were also the helpers for the duration of the Franks and four other Dutch Jews’ confinement.
They kept the occupants of the house informed of war news and other political developments. They took care of all of their need, supplied them with food, and ensured their safety.
On July 13, 1942, the Franks -Otto and Edith and their daughters Anne and Margot- were joined by the van Pels family -Hermann, Auguste, and Peter- and then in November by Fritz Pfeffer.
On the morning of August 4, 1944, the hiding place was stormed by a group of German uniformed police. The Franks, Pfeffer, and van Pelses were then taken to the RSHA headquarters.
Following the raid, Victor and Johannes were captured and jailed at the penal camp for enemies of the regime in the province of Utrecht.
After interrogation at Gestapo headquarters, the two were taken to a prison on the Amstelveenseweg with counts of Jews and political prisoners awaiting deportation.
Johannes was imprisoned in the Amersfoort labor camp and was released about seven weeks later by special dispensation of the Red Cross after his health started deteriorating.
On September 7, Victor was moved to the Weteringschans prison. This was followed four days later by transport to an Amersfoort concentration camp, where he was selected for transport to Germany.
He was held in different Dutch concentration and prison camps until the war ended.
Gies was threatened and questioned by the officials but not detained. Bep managed to escape after providing a few papers that would have intimidated their blackmarket contacts.
Did Miep Gies get caught?
After the Franks were discovered by the authorities Gies, Voskuijl, and Kleiman were confronted by an armed man commanding “Stay put! Don’t move! Not a sound!”
The Franks and the other four Dutch Jews had been betrayed and the Grune Polizei captured the individuals hidden at 263 Prinsengracht, along with Kugler and Kleiman.
Miep went to the German police office the next day to try to find the arrestees. She even offered money to buy their freedom but failed.
She and the other helpers could have been executed if they had been found hiding Jews. However, Gies was not caught because the officer who came to interrogate her was from her birth town, Vienna.
Gies quickly recognized his accent and told him they were from the same hometown. He was amazed, then began pacing at her, eventually deciding to let her stay.
She remained safe with her beloved spouse in Amsterdam throughout the rest of the war. She and the younger secretary Bep retrieved parts of Anne’s diaries and saved them.
Later, the only survivor of the Frank family, Otto, returned to Amsterdam after the war and found his daughter’s diary had been saved by his female secretaries.
Frank decided to fulfill his kid’s wish to become a writer and publish her work in 1947. Translated from its original Dutch version, it was first published in English in 1952 as “The Diary of a Young Girl.”
How Long Did The Frank Family Hide?
The Frank family hid in the secret annex for two years, from 1942 to 1944. It was during the German occupation of the Netherlands in World War second.
When the Franks went into hiding on July 6, 1942, they had to hint they would end up staying there without going outside for two years. The other four individuals joined them later.
Anne’s father had made a secret annex at the back of his office of which the entry door was hidden behind a bookcase. His most trusted employees would be their helpers during the hiding.
The place became known as the Achterhius. Their residence was left in a state of disarray to generate the impression that they had left and Otto also left a note hinting they were moving to Switzerland.
The need for secrecy forced the family to leave behind their cat, Moortje.
As Jews were restricted to use public transport, Anne and her parents walked several kilometers while her sister, Margot, cycled to the Prinsengracht with Gies.
When purchasing food for the people in hiding, Miep avoided suspicion in many ways. For instance, by visiting multiple suppliers in a day and never carrying more than one shopping bag could hold.
The diarist was emotionally closest to her dad. She also formed a closer relationship with her sibling.
Although she sometimes expressed jealousy toward her sister, especially when the other members criticized her for lacking Margot’s gentle and placid nature, she came closer to her during hiding.
Moreover, she frequently penned about her difficult relationship with her mother, noting her ambivalence towards her.
The Frank siblings each dreamt of returning to school soon after the situation got better and continued with their studies in the attic.
Margot took an Elementary Latin course by correspondence in Voskuijl’s name and attained high marks. Anne spent most of her time reading and studying. She regularly wrote and edited her diary entries.
In addition to providing a narrative of events during the hiding, she also wrote about her beliefs, feelings, dreams, and ambitions.
As her confidence grew in writing and as he began to mature, she penned more abstract subjects including her belief in God and her definition of human nature.