True Greatness

On January 11, 2010, the world lost one of its greatest citizens. Her name was Miep Gies. Miep was 100 years old. Her picture was briefly flashed across television screens around the world and her name was mentioned on page 15 or 16 of many newspapers, as well. Miep should have been mourned by many. Her life should have been celebrated by television documentaries and interviews with people who knew her. But it wasn’t. The “balloon boy” received much more press time and notoriety than Miep.

What did Miep do to deserve the title of “greatness”? She put her life on the line to save the lives of eight Jewish people during the holocaust. She hid them, fed them and encouraged them for over 2 years before they were found by Nazi soldiers who hauled them off to a concentration camp. One of those families went by the name of Frank... it was Anne Frank’s family.

Miep Gies was the woman who found Anne’s diary in the attic, gathered up the scattered pages, and saved it for 2 years, hoping that Anne would survive the terrible concentration camps. We know, of course, that she didn’t.

When Otto Frank, Anne’s dad, was released at the end of World War II, he returned to his previous home to find that he was the sole survivor. His wife and two daughters were dead. Miep presented Anne’s diary to Otto, and ultimately -- to the world. This was the diary that would inspire my daughter, Rachel, to leave us with her six diaries.

My wife, Sandy, and I were in Amsterdam on June 25, 2009 to visit this wonderful lady. She had just turned 100 years old, and had recently turned down an invitation to meet with the queen. However, we were honored to meet with her because her caretaker, a gentleman named Cor Suijk**, had told her about Rachel. Cor is also a great person. He was imprisoned during the Holocaust for helping hide a number of Jewish people. After being released, he became Otto Frank’s assistant and best friend and was the first director of the Anne Frank House.

Cor drove us into the little village where Miep lived and as I looked out my car window, passing windmills that dotted the Holland countryside, I though about the definition of the word “greatness”. Who among us is really great?

That very morning I had received an email from major league baseball and People magazine informing me that I had been selected to be the Colorado Rockies “Heroes Among Us” person of the year. I would be representing the Rockies at the All-Star game, riding in the parade with the players and being honored with 29 other “heroes” by all 5 living presidents in the pre-game celebration! Of course I was excited about winning that nomination, but I knew in my heart that I was not “great” because of that assignment. Being called a hero, doesn’t make one a hero. I was selected because a large number of my friends took the time to vote for me online. It was a simple numbers game, and I was fortunate to have the most friends voting. But that did not make me “great”.

On that same day, an icon of pop music, Michael Jackson, passed away. Michael was without question one of the greatest singers, dancers and entertainers of all time. But as I listened for days to come, to the platitudes honoring his life, I often heard him referred to as “great”. I am not the judge of whether Michael Jackson was a “great” person or not, because I never met him. But one thing I did know that day we visited Miep -- I knew that I was about to walk into the presence of true greatness!

Sandy and I were ushered by Cor up the sidewalk to the door of a small apartment, where a stooped, elderly, white-haired lady greeted us. As we sat and visited with Miep, at one point she took our hands in hers and with tears in her eyes, in broken English she said, “I never had a daughter. But Anne was like a daughter to me. I lost her -- and I am so sorry for your loss of Rachel.”

I cannot begin to tell you the flood of emotions that coursed through my heart at that moment. My daughter was being honored by the lady who saved Rachel’s hero, Anne Frank! These hands holding ours had served and sacrificed in an attempt to save Anne’s life and the lives of seven other Jewish people during that terrible time in history. As we glanced around the small room, Miep pointed out to us the shawl that Anne Frank wore, draped across a chair. There in the corner was the desk owned by Otto Frank, that I’m sure Anne must have sat at from time to time, recording entries in her diary.

As we left her apartment and started back for the car, I looked over my shoulder and saw Miep waving from her doorway. Almost as an afterthought, I grabbed the camera and took her picture. Little did I realize that it would probably be the last picture ever taken of her alive. Six months later she would quietly - without fanfare - slip away.

True greatness is a rare commodity -- but that day, I knew I had encountered a genuinely great person.


**Note: Cor Suijk, Otto Frank’s best friend and former Director of the Anne Frank house will be one of the speakers at the National Rachel’s Challenge Summit, June 23-26.