"Now Your Nightmare Comes To Life"

commission for @marikedrawinge

be careful miep...

Haha, wat denk je toch, alsof iemand ooit om je zal geven zoals jij om hen geeft. Al die gedachten, die hebben zij niet over jou. Leer dat toch eens.

Xxx jezelf.

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Stills of Joe Cole as Jan Gies and Bel Powley as Miep Gies in A Small Light.

i highly recommend “a small light” on disney+. it’s the (true) story of miep gies, the woman who risked her life to hide the family of anne frank and four more people, and of those who surrounded her: her husband jan, himself a member of the resistance against the nazis, her foster family, the people she tried to save, the many brave souls in her country and those who were less selfless than herself. the performances are incredible, beautifully led by bel powley’s. the costumes, locations and cinematography are on point and the writing, starting almost from a comedic place, escalated into tragedy slowly and seamlessly. more people should be watching this.

This is Miep Gies. She was the last remaining survivor who helped in hiding the Frank family during WWII. Miep was born to a Catholic family in Vienna on February 15, 1909. Following WWI, conditions in Austria worsened and food supplies were sparse, Miep’s parents sent her to the Netherlands for a healthier life with a foster family.

In 1933, Miep started working as a secretary for Otto Frank. The two worked together for several years as things in Amsterdam became increasingly dangerous for Jews. One day, in July 1942, Otto sat down with Miep to share his plans of hiding in a Secret Annex in Otto’s office building and asked if she was able to help. Without any hesitation, Miep immediately agreed. She, together with her husband Jan, put their lives at risk by providing food, news and other supplies. The Franks were joined in the attic by another Jewish family and Miep’s dentist. In August 1944, all 8 individuals were found by the Gestapo after 25 months in hiding. Miep was working in the building at the time and immediately ran to save Anne’s notebooks and put in her desk drawer for safekeeping.

Following their deportation to concentration camps, Otto was the only one to survive. In January 1945, he returned to Amsterdam and reunited with Miep. It was then that she shared Anne’s diary. After the war, Otto lived with Miep’s family and organized Anne’s notes into a book which was first published in the Netherlands in 1947. “Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl” went on to sell tens of millions of copies worldwide.

 In 1987, Miep published a memoir, ‘Anne Frank Remembered’. “I am not a hero. I stand at the end of the long, long line of good Dutch people who did what I did and more–much more–during those dark and terrible times years ago, but always like yesterday in the heart of those of us who bear witness. Never a day goes by that I do not think of what happened then.” In January 2010, Miep died in the Netherlands at 100 years old.

Humans of Judaism

Miep (Maria) Dehé-Stijger (Dutch, 1888-1970) - Appie's Birthday (1937)

Thoughts after finishing A Small Light:

-I really love that this show looks at the story of Anne Frank and her family in a different light. There's only so many films and series that can be told from the same perspective and focusing on Miep Gies and the other helpers was such a refreshing new take on this well known tale.

-I absolutely loved the time spent focusing on Jan Gies and the Dutch Resistence. So many brave, ordinary people did so much at great personal risk to make even the smallest of differences in the face of evil, and this show really is a tribute to them. I never fail to wonder if such acts of everyday heroism would be repeated in modern Europe.

-I was disappointed that we didn't get any follow up to the storyline between Miep and Tess. I would have liked to see if Tess did marry her Nazi after all and if she came around in the end. It would have been a good ending to find out her fate after the liberation.

-Overall I'd give it an 8/10. Definitely will re-watch again at some point.

Y’all, go watch A Small Light. It’s beautiful and heartbreaking and I’m crying as I type this out.

A Small Light is the story of Miep Gies, Otto Frank’s secretary who helped hide the residents of the Secret Annex, and her husband Jan, who was a member of the Dutch resistance. There’s suspense, and drama, and moments of joy, all ultimately leading to the heartbreak you know is coming.

It’s eight episodes people, I know colleges are going on break right now so y’all have time.

I just…this show deserves all the awards. Emmy sweep, thy name is A Small Light. The usage of light and color, music, I just…God.

The acting is phenomenal. Liev Schrieber’s portrayal of Otto Frank throughout the series, especially after the homecoming, it was amazing. I was bawling. Bawling.

This show hurt to watch. And that’s good, because it should. These were real people, and we should weep for them, we should remember them.

To a certain degree, I feel as if A Small Light was written specifically knowing not much information was given on Miep and Jan Gies’ backgrounds just so they can fabricate a story. It’s much easier to create fake stories where there’s little information than there is to create stories from genuine accounts. (Edit: Because when whole stories are made up and you can’t find out where the info comes from, they can get away with lies instead of being directly debunked.)

The reason why Anne Frank’s story was so incredibly powerful was because it happened. And for her personality to come off like she’s born (or ANY of the characters are born) in the 21st century is so freaking weird to me. Nat Geo decided to go the Science channel route. While the Science channel has dealt its hand in pseudoscience over the years, Nat Geo decided to dip its toes in pseudo-history to “relate to a newer generation”.

It’s sickening that you have to relate to a newer generation for the story to be powerful. I’ve read multiple accounts of tragedies in the most blandest forms and have imagined the pain that those people have gone through and it’s sickening. I can read stuff that happened in China or Japan or Brazil or Venezuela or Nigeria or South Africa. Whole completely different cultures than my own and STILL relate to them because that’s called having human empathy.

If you need to fabricate things and or recreate stories or even fabricate personalities and people’s inner thoughts and motives just to relate to a newer generation, then maybe writing the story isn’t worth it.

P.S. this is a criticism. It doesn’t mean I hate the story. I actually very much like it. It just bothers me so much to watch something I assumed was historical and for me to look up stuff and have it debunked. I get that almost all stories in film and books are fabricated to a degree, but even Nat Geo says in their disclaimer that this is not BASED on real events but INSPIRED by. So even they are aware that much of the story is nonsense. It’s just hard for me, as someone who loves history, for so much of something that could’ve been true to heart is so full of fiction. (It reminds me of what I had to deal with watching Einstein’s part of the show Genius.)

P.P.S. No Margot did not ride a bike in broad daylight around the police. It is JUST as suspenseful for her to ride her bike in pouring rain where police are nowhere to be found which is SOOOOOOO much better than what the show offered. If a girl was told to report to a labor camp and police know that Jews live in the neighborhood, why would they RISK her LIFE approaching in broad daylight in front of the police when the police were an everyday fear for that family??

*long sigh* Okay I’m done now…for now…

Mice… do they use computers!?

Official trailer from the new National Geographic series focusing on Miep Gies, the woman, who helped to hide Anne Frank and her family. 

My favorite part of a small light was probably miep and her husband. They were so adorable. Like they act like such an old married couple. Even through how horrible things went I could feel the love they had for each other. How I imagine Luz and Hunter act like if they were married. One thing I wish they could have added in the show, was I wish Jan could have got to watch Miep ice skate for a few minutes. I know it was a serious dangerous moment. But Miep was so happy for a few minutes. I wish he had got to see his wife happy just for a minute for having to bring her back to how dark everything was. I wish I could learn more about Miep and Jan.

Yeah same. Miep and Jan's relationship was the most heartwarming aspect of the show and even though they had some hardships and tension, they still found their way back to one another and never let go.

TAKE THIS!

Miep's tune

This is what they play when turning the crank. They learned that if it sounds good, the prey will stay to be eaten.

"@/belpowley and @/theotherjoecole share their fond memories of bringing Miep and Jan Gies’ story to life. Don’t miss #ASmallLight, now streaming on @/DisneyPlus and @/hulu."

🎥: natgeotv (IG)