Miep: The Journey Begins.
As we go deeper into the story of Miep Gies, we discover so much more about her - other than what she is known for which was one of the people who helped The Frank’s, The Van Pels along with there son Peter and Fritz Pfeffer into hiding during the Nazi occupation of Amsterdam in World War 2. Unfortunately, the ensemble got captured on that faithful night in August 1944. Millions upon millions across the globe know of Anne Frank and her story but very few know about the woman who secured Annes legacy, by safely keeping hold of Annes diary and putting into Otto Frank’s hands. Without her courageous efforts and a heart of gold, the world wouldn’t of known about Anne Frank’s heartfelt story. This gave us enough reason to bring her story to life in a way that hasn’t been done before and we are very excited to bring Miep, to the forefront by giving another angle of the Anne Frank story.
The idea started when I was away on holiday last June, when I was fortunate enough to finally have a copy of; A diary of a Young Girl: The diary of Anne Frank. I was captured instantly like millions upon millions who have read the diary. Full of hope, uncertainty for the future, what lies next with each page turned, fear polluting the pages, innocence like no other from a young girls handwritten account of what life was like in hiding. Throughout the diary, the name ‘Miep’ came up often. Anne always admired Miep and what she overcame by helping her and the others in hiding. As she puts it nicely in an entry in her diary on Monday, 8th May 1944.
“It seems as if we are never far
From Miep’s thoughts…”
This just gives a little snippet of what Miep was all about. What Anne didn’t know and what we later found out from studying the life of this phenomenal woman, is that the Frank’s were’t the only people that she helped hide from the Nazis. There are so many layers to Miep’s heart that we are excited to reveal in the next few months and what a lot of people don’t know of her. We want you, the audience to really know Miep, before the production takes place as we have got to know her.
Once I had a little grasp of who Miep was, I quickly organised a meeting with Ashley. We both agreed that this was a great way to get the Story of Anne Frank told in a different perspective rather than Anne’s point of view. Like I said earlier, if it wasn’t for this woman we wouldn’t of ever known who Anne Frank was. We quickly organised a meeting with Joe Harper, our designer and laid down ideas for a starting point and the rest was history. The artwork compliments the project so well. The details within the artwork tell a story of its own. Look closely and it will be revealed.
Myself and the team will be collaborating together to make this the biggest and most important project from Likeminded. So keep your eyes peeled for more information about this amazing woman which we are looking forward to bringing her story to life in a way that hasn’t been done before.
Words by Christopher Woodward
Cover by Joe Harper