Kitty Felix and her mother had been on the run for four years. The Nazis had taken over their home country of Poland in 1939. The Felixes were Jewish, and the Nazis were persecuting Jews. No place was safe. They had fake documents, thanks to a Catholic priest, but someone told the Nazis that they were Jews. That was the beginning of Kitty's imprisonment.

They were told they were being sent to Auschwitz, but Mrs. Felix was confused. Auschwitz was a beautiful city, filled with ponds and meadows. Why would they be sent there? Mrs. Felix and Kitty didn’t know about what was happening there, how the Nazis had filled the city with work camps and death camps. Kitty and her mother spent the next two years as prisoners in some of the worst places on Earth.

After the war was over, Kitty and her mother were released. Kitty found that hardly anybody knew about what happened during the Holocaust, and many didn’t want to know. “That sounds far-fetched,” people would say when she told her story.  Even her uncle said to her, “I don't want you to talk about anything that happened to you. I don't want to know.”

People needed to know! The Holocaust was able to happen only because too many people pretended it wasn’t happening. If people didn’t talk about it, it might happen again. 

So Kitty, now married and named Kitty Hart-Moxon, dedicated her life to telling her story.  She talks about how she’s alive because of teamwork, how the prisoners on a crowded train car would take turns getting breathable air through a crack in the floor. She tells people about the kindness of complete strangers, like the German woman who risked her own life every day to hide food for Kitty. Mostly, she talks about how everybody makes choices, and its up to us – will we choose to help others?

She has made it a point to talk to school groups.  Why?  In her words, “Because discrimi­nation and bullying starts in the playground. Some say you need to start teaching early – if you don't, you miss the train.”

The world lost a wonderful woman recently.

Do you know the story of Miep Gies? It’s because of Miep's courage and kindness that we've come to know the story of Anne Frank. Let’s take a moment to remember her - she was a real Hero of Character!

Otto Frank needed help. He was from Germany, but was beginning a new life for his family in a country called the Netherlands. You see, a new leader had taken over Germany. Adolf Hitler and his Nazi party were some of the worst bullies the world has ever seen. The Nazis preached hatred of Jewish people.  They began to imprison them in ghettos and concentration camps, and later killed millions of Jews from across Europe.  The Franks were Jewish – they had to get away!

Miep got a job with Mr. Frank in 1933. He was a good boss and a very nice man. A few years later, though, the Nazis took over the Netherlands, too, and began to capture Jews there. They made it a crime, punishable by death, to help anyone who was Jewish. Like all bullies, the Nazis wanted people to be too scared to do the right thing.  But Miep wouldn't be bullied.

By 1942, things were very bad for the Franks.  Otto had tried to escape to the U.S. with his family, but the U.S. Government didn't start rescuing Jews until 1944. So Miep formed a team with her husband Jan, and her coworkers Victor Kugler, Johannes Kleiman, and Bep Voskuijl. They worked together and helped the Franks hide in a secret attic, with another family named the van Pels and a man named Fritz Pfeffer.

For two years, the Franks, van Pels and Mr. Pfeffer remained safe in their attic hideout. Anne had been keeping diaries, and she wrote about what it was like to hide. Living like this wasn’t easy, because everyone was under a lot of stress. If they were caught, the Nazis would try to kill them. Anne knew this, but she believed that everybody, even people who do evil things, have goodness inside of them. If only they would let that good come out!

In 1944, the Nazis found the secret hiding place. Johannes and Victor and all the people hiding were arrested.  Miep wasn’t, though, and she found Anne’s diaries and hid them. This was very brave - later, she said she should have burned them, because the diaries were proof that she had disobeyed the Nazis.

Miep never saw Anne again. After the Nazis were defeated, Miep gave the diaries to Mr. Frank. Of the eight people who hid in that attic, he was the only one still alive. Reading the diaries made him sad, but they also made him happy as he realized the importance of Anne's words. He published Anne’s writings as “The Diary of a Young Girl” to share her thoughts with the whole world.

Because of Miep’s generosity, compassion, and courage, a little piece of Anne is still alive with us today. One of my favorite quotes tells you a lot about Anne, but it also describes Miep. In fact, it describes every Hero of Character:

“People will always follow a good example. Be the one to set a good example, then it won't be long before the others follow... We can start now, start slowly changing the world! How lovely that everyone, great and small, can make their contribution toward introducing justice straightaway... And you can always, always give something, even if it is only kindness!”

Miep Gies didn’t want to be considered a hero, but what else to call her? She made the world a better place, and helped keep Anne Frank alive, in body and in spirit. Thank you, Miep, for being so brave and so kind. We miss you!