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A secretary for Anne’s father, Otto Frank, Gies helped eight Dutch Jews hide from Nazis, then kept the girl’s diary safe. Today, Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl is one of the most widely read books in the world, with millions of copies sold in more than 60 languages. But the work would never have survived had it not been for the courage of Gies, who recently died at age 100 in the Netherlands on 11 January 2010.

The Austrian-born Hermine “Miep” Gies, along with her husband, Jan, and several coworkers risked her life to help hide the Franks and four other Amsterdam Jews from 1942 to 1944. Besides giving them cover, Gies and the others would “put on their most cheerful expressions, bring flowers and gifts for birthdays and holidays,” wrote Anne. After Nazis raided the annex, Gies retrieved Anne’s diary for safekeeping.

Following Anne’s death in a concentration camp in 1945, Gies gave the diary to Otto, who alone survived and published it in 1947. Sharp-minded until the end, Gies remained forever entwined with the young girl whose spirit she preserved for history.

(Source: ProQuest
MIEP GIES 1909-2010 SHE SAVED ANNE FRANK’S WORDS
Michelle Tauber. People. New York: Jan 25, 2010. Vol. 73, Iss. 3; pg. 111)

Check out the following books:

(All Rights Reserved, Holiday House, 2009)

The Anne Frank Case : Simon Wiesenthal’s Search for the Truth
By Susan Goldman Rubin
Call No: J English 940.53 RUB
Click here to check for item availability.

(All Rights Reserved, National Geographic, 2007)

Anne Frank : The Young Writer Who Told The World Her Story
By Anne Kramer
Call No: J English 940.53 KRA
Click here to check for item availability.

(All Rights Reserved, Evans, 2010)

Anne Frank : Her Life
By Marian Hoefnagel
Call No: J English 940.53 HOE
Click here to check for item availability.

Originally answered by Rosjihanah Mon
Associate Librarian, Children’s Services

 
Mark I: Image courtesy of Encyclopedia Britannica

Long before the net books, desktops and laptops were introduced, the machines used to process information and data were huge and chunky.

How did this essential tool that is part of our everyday life come about?

The origin of the computer can be traced to the English mathematician, Charles Babbage (1792-1871) who made attempts to design a mechanical calculating machine that stores, retrieves and processes data.

It was only in 1944 that the first working digital binary computer known as Mark I was built by Howard Aiken. These computers were huge and sometimes filled an entire room. That was because thousands of switches were needed to compute his binary number system.

It was also this time that the first effective computer programs was written. Grace Murray Hopper (1906-1992) created a program for Mark I Computer . She came up with the computer programming language, COBOL (Common Business Oriented Language) and coined the word “bug” to refer to computer program errors. This word came about when her computer broke down and she discovered a dead moth in it

Much credit also goes to Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak who founded Apple Computer Inc, and created affordable, personal modern computers. Their personal computer Apple II, came with a keyboard and became an instant hit with the public. And in 1984, the Macintosh computer was then introduced. These personal computers were used to play games and to do simple word processing.

Resources:

BABBAGE, Charles. [serial online]. n.d.;Available from: Funk & Wagnalls New World Encyclopedia, Ipswich, MA. Accessed January 11, 2010.

JOBS, Steve. [serial online]. n.d.;Available from: Funk & Wagnalls New World Encyclopedia, Ipswich, MA. Accessed January 11, 2010

HOPPER, Grace Brewster. [serial online]. n.d.;Available from: Funk & Wagnalls New World Encyclopedia, Ipswich, MA. Accessed January 11, 2010.

The Wonder Workers, Available from : Boys’ Life; Aug95, Vol. 85 Issue 8.
Accessed January 11, 2010.

These encyclopedias can be found at the e-databases available at all NLB libraries

Posted By:

Ms Chen Wanying
Children’s Librarian
Children’s Services

Yes indeed, now you can access library services without leaving your Facebook space!!

Library services are now available on Facebook through a trial application called the NLB myLibrary application

This application allows you to:
- Check your account
- Renew and reserve items
- Keep up to date with our new arrivals, latest events and blogs
- Share any library related resources with your friends and publish them as recommendations, or simply save them to your personal Facebook space.

Read more about the application here

If you have any enquiries or comments, please drop us an email at ask@nlb.gov.sg and we will reply within 3 working days.

Posted by Mr Justin Tan
Librarian
Adult & Young People’s Services