Childhood
- Born in Vienna, Austria- February 15, 1909
- World War 1 began when she was 5 years old.
- WW1 caused a shortage of food which did not end when the war did so at 10 years old Miep Gies was a scrawny, undernourished young girl.
- By 1920, there was another baby girl in her house which meant less food to go around, this decreased her health and her parents were told if nothing was done to "save" her, she would die.
- She was taken in by a Dutch speaking family(Miep spoke German) in Leiden, Holland, from a program set up by generous people of Netherlands to help rescue the children of Austrian workers.
- The family fed and treated her with great kindness and helped her regain her strength, they took her in as if she was their child.
- Soon became immersed into Dutch culture, and moved to Amsterdam with her new family when she was 13.
- Three years later she visited her birth family for the first time. She and her parents noticed she felt out of place in Vienna so her parents gave her consent to live in Amsterdam with her new family because they felt she would be happier.
- They did not consider changing her citizenship from Austrian to Dutch which became a big mistake when war broke out in 1939.
Prewar
- Late teens, early twenties
- Took her first job as an office worker but was fired at 24 in 1933 when the unemployment rate increased.
- She had not recovered economically from World War 1.
- She had a lively social life, she spent her free time going to movies and dances at local dance clubs.
Working for The Franks
- Applied to work for Otto Frank after seeing an advertisement for employment needs.
- Otto Franks business was a firm specializing in products for homemakers.
- Had an interview with Otto Frank and found him to be gentle, shy Jew who had recently moved to Amsterdam to escape persecution.
- Got the job as head of the Complaint and Information desk.
- She gradually developed a close relationship with the Frank family.