January Gies

October 18, 1905 (age 87)

Amsterdam, Amsterdam municipality, Netherlands

lieutenant was not until after they"d gone their separate ways - January into the Dutch Social Services and Miep to Otto Frank"s company, Opekta - that they met each other again socially in 1936. Later that year, Gies was appointed the nominal director of Otto Frank"s company after Frank was forced to resign from the board under the newly introduced Nazi laws which forbade Jews to hold directorships, and from then on, the company traded under the name Gies & Company As the persecution of Amsterdam"s Jewish population intensified he dedicated himself to assisting Jews and others escape by obtaining illegal ration cards for food, finding them hiding places, and securing British newspapers free from Nazi propaganda. Gies aided the Frank family"s escape to their hiding place at the Gies & Company premises at 263 Prinsengracht. In addition to their concealment of the Frank and van Pels families and of Fritz Pfeffer at the Prinsengracht, Miep and January also took in a student, who had refused to sign a Nazi oath. Following the arrest and deportation of the hidden families in August 1944, Miep rescued the diaries and other manuscripts of Anne Frank from the hiding place before it was ransacked by the Dutch secret police. Of the eight people she and January had assisted to hide, Otto Frank was the sole survivor. Upon Frank"s return to Amsterdam in June 1945 he moved in with them, and stayed with them for seven years before he emigrated to Switzerland to be close to his mother. After the publication of Anne Frank"s diary, under the title Het Achterhuis (The Backhouse. Often translated as The Secret Annex) in 1947, January and Miep found themselves the subjects of media attention, particularly after the diary was translated into English as The Diary of a Young Girl and adapted for the stage and screen. In 1993, January Gies died peacefully at home from diabetes, aged 87.

January Gies

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Background

January Augustus Gies (also known as Henk van Santen in The Diary of Anne Frank) was born and raised in Amsterdam"s south side.

Education

Their wedding was attended by Otto and Anne Frank, Hermann van Pels and his wife Auguste van Pels, and Miep"s colleagues Victor Kugler, Bep Voskuijl, and Johannes Kleiman.

Career

lieutenant was not until after they"d gone their separate ways - January into the Dutch Social Services and Miep to Otto Frank"s company, Opekta - that they met each other again socially in 1936. Later that year, Gies was appointed the nominal director of Otto Frank"s company after Frank was forced to resign from the board under the newly introduced Nazi laws which forbade Jews to hold directorships, and from then on, the company traded under the name Gies & Company

As the persecution of Amsterdam"s Jewish population intensified he dedicated himself to assisting Jews and others escape by obtaining illegal ration cards for food, finding them hiding places, and securing British newspapers free from Nazi propaganda. Gies aided the Frank family"s escape to their hiding place at the Gies & Company premises at 263 Prinsengracht.

In addition to their concealment of the Frank and van Pels families and of Fritz Pfeffer at the Prinsengracht, Miep and January also took in a student, who had refused to sign a Nazi oath.

Following the arrest and deportation of the hidden families in August 1944, Miep rescued the diaries and other manuscripts of Anne Frank from the hiding place before it was ransacked by the Dutch secret police. Of the eight people she and January had assisted to hide, Otto Frank was the sole survivor.

Upon Frank"s return to Amsterdam in June 1945 he moved in with them, and stayed with them for seven years before he emigrated to Switzerland to be close to his mother. After the publication of Anne Frank"s diary, under the title Het Achterhuis (The Backhouse.

Often translated as The Secret Annex) in 1947, January and Miep found themselves the subjects of media attention, particularly after the diary was translated into English as The Diary of a Young Girl and adapted for the stage and screen.

In 1993, January Gies died peacefully at home from diabetes, aged 87.

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They attended memorial ceremonies and gave lectures about Anne Frank and the importance of resisting fascism.

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January Gies

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January Gies

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