I am not sure if it is merely the content that brought this book up to a 5 - that alone would do it for me - but the reader on my audiobook was phenomenal as well. Her voice, and the words drew me back many years to a horrible time. I recalled reading Anne Frank:The Diary of a Young Girl many times as I grew up. It was amazing to hear what happened on the other side of the bookcase. Every time Miep went up to visit her friends I recalled entering that space myself and climbing those steep stairs to see where everything took place - perhaps my recollection of visiting the Annex added to the enjoyment of the story. It was interesting to hear what the Miep thought of her "friends", after hearing what Anne had thought of Miep. An amazing story of a truly incredible group of people. who without ever looking twice, risked their lives to save those of people they cared for. Miep suggested that there were many, many more people like her and Hank throughout Holland -- what a heritage to be proud of!
Miep's honesty and openness, and obvious trust of the co-author, made the story memorable, easy to read and a pure delight. This is one book I am truly glad I listened to instead of reading - it was nice to have this told to me. I must admit I rewound a few times when I was surprised and the risks Miep and Hank undertook.
Made me very thankful that I am alive today - and I certainly pray that history will NEVER repeat itself in this vein again!

I just watched A Small Light on Disney+ and I could not stop thinking about Miep’s incredible story. I had to know more. After a little digging, I found this book. The mini series was actually very faithful to her life. I loved hearing it through her own words though. What an inspiring person. She and the others we so brave and so selfless and kind. This is what I hope is the true reflection of humanity…when we’re at our best. What happened to these poor people was unspeakable, but we must continue speaking about it and sharing their stories so they are never lost. God bless the helpers. And everyone who is struggling with a difficult situation and still finds the courage and strength to make it through one more day.

I was so pleased to finish this book on Miep’s birthday—February 15th. It felt right. Happy Birthday, Miep! ❤️

Miep Gies is one of the few people in the world who can provide us with personal insight into the life of Anne Frank. But this book goes beyond just telling us about the Frank family and the assistance she provided to them in hiding. She has lived an interesting life in her own right, from her adoption by a Dutch family to her relationship with her husband. The details of her life under Nazi occupation in Amsterdam make you realize how difficult life was outside the annex. Miep Gies has always insisted that she is not extraordinary and that many other people took similar or greater risks in resisting the Nazis. I don't think I really believed her until I read this book. Overall, this book really added depth to my understanding of life during an extraordinary time in history.

I read this several years ago, before a trip to Amsterdam and to the Anne Frank House. Reading it again, was, just as good as the first time. Yes, of course, it’s a heartbreaking and difficult read. We all know how it ends. Miep Gies and her husband were incredible, brave souls, who helped to hide the Frank family during WWII, and who provided food and comfort to them. I love Miep so much. I would give this book infinite stars if I could.



Many of you may have already seen the only film image of Anne Frank.

Jews in Hiding
“More than twenty thousand Dutch people helped to hide Jews and others in need of hiding during those years.”

Anne’s Bedroom
“Anne had glued her movie-star pictures onto her bedroom wall—Ray Milland; Greta Garbo; Norma Shearer; Ginger Rogers; Lily Bouwmeester, the Dutch actress; Heinz Rühmann, the German actor. Other pictures she liked: a big advertisement for our company’s jam-making process; Michelangelo’s Pietà a big pink rose; chimpanzees having a tea party; Princess Elizabeth of York; many, many cutouts of cuddly little babies. Anne liked cutouts of cute babies as much as she liked movie stars.”



After the War
“During the occupation, there had been just two kinds of Dutch people: those who collaborated and those who resisted. Political and religious and class differences had been forgotten. It was simply we Dutch against our German oppressor. After the liberation, the unity quickly disappeared and people again divided into groups and factions that were at odds with each other. Everyone returned to his old ways, to his own class, to his own political group. People had changed less than I would have thought.”

Opinião em :



https://youtu.be/hBi1HsqR8a8

Having watched ‘A Small Light,’ I wanted to hear more from Miep about her role in the hiding of the Frank family and the Nazi occupation of Holland.

The stories are elegantly pieced together, displaying brutality and humanity on an equal level.

I was captivated by this book. Although the writing could have been a little better at times, the subject matter and details describing the authors story were great! Reading more about the story of the Frank family was fascinating! I appreciated the authors words at the end of the book correcting misconceptions from movies made about the Frank Family’s story too. She was able to relay to folks what really happened. I could not put this book down!

Det behövs fler människor som Miep <3

It is so easy to give this book 5 stars. I've never read any Holocaust literature from this perspective before, and it was fascinating to learn about the other side fo the Annex door. I'd never thought about who hid Anne and her family, just that they were good people trying to protect who/what they could. This book gives me a lot of insight into what it actually looked like to hide human beings in an attic.

Miep is an incredible person and is very likable. It's hard reading a book like this one and knowing the end is an unhappy one. Even though I knew the end is sad, I still found myself rooting for good things to come. For a surprise I didn't know about. But it never came, and I suppose that's just the reality of the war.

Miep's fighting spirit is inspirational and I think anyone who enjoys reading about the holocaust (fiction or non fiction) would enjoy this book. I would even recommend it to a 7th or 8th grader because it is an interesting story that comes from a point of view we don't normally see and reads like a novel, which is important when you're trying to engage 13 year olds.

If I could give this book 100 stars I would. It was that good. It made me feel so many things. I read it with an actual book- not audio or kindle. It was a book to be savored. This is what the series “ A Small Light” is adapted from. This book should be required reading to understand what the Dutch people went through during WW2. Miep Gies has a special place in history and heaven for all she did to help the Frank family and others survive for as long as they did during the war. Absolutely an inspiration to all!! This is truly an incredible book. I love it so much !!!!!

4.5, I liked the writing style. I thought this version of the story (written from the point of view of those that helped hide Anne and her family) was more interesting than Anne’s Diary. It showed what the war looked like on the outside in Holland and what the people went through. Hard to put down.

Este livro traz-nos a história da Miep, todo o seu percurso de vida - que no meu ponto de vista é bastante interessante - até ao momento em que conhece Otto Frank e a sua família. A partir daqui, e numa perspetiva diferente, é-nos dada a oportunidade de apreender o outro lado. Para além de Miep, são-nos apresentadas todas as pessoas que ajudaram a família Frank, os Van Pelses e o Dr. Fritz Pfeffer, durante todo o tempo que permaneceram escondidos no anexo. É-nos igualmente revelado como era conseguida a comida “necessária” para as oito pessoas que dividiam aquele espaço exíguo e completamente claustrofóbico, a forma como eram organizadas as visitas, para que não se sentissem tão sós e o momento em que foram descobertos. Temos ainda a percepção de como se vivia na Holanda durante a guerra e depois do seu término. O regresso de Otto Frank e a recuperação do diário da sua filha, que foi resgatado e guardado por Miep, na esperança de o entregar à sua dona legítima. A sua publicação, de início com a total oposição do seu pai, mas que depois de muita persuasão, acabou por ceder, deixando-nos um testemunho importantíssimo sobre a situação dos Judeus, durante a Segunda Guerra Mundial. ⠀

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“Uma ou duas vezes na vida, há uma troca de olhares entre duas pessoas que não pode ser descrita em palavras. Nós partilhamos esse olhar.” - Pág. 88 ⠀

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Este é, obviamente, um livro que recomendo muito e que deverá ser lido após “O Diário de Anne Frank”