Answer Miep Gies: "An important factor in taking this load on my shoulders was my personal history. My home country Austria engaged itself in a war, that lasted from 1914 till 1918. It lost everything it once had. Food became very scarce and I, eleven years old, fell ill with tuberculosis. My parents could not give me the nourishment and medicine I needed. Therefore, they accepted the offer from a Dutch family to take me in on a temporary basis. I remember sitting lonely and crying in a train with a cord around my neck and a sign hanging from it, stating my name: Hermine Santruschitz. After a 700 mile train ride I arrived in the Netherlands, welcomed by a family that spoke a strange language. They already had five kids and had to live on a modest salary. Still they shared everything they had with me and sent me to fine schools. In return for this good fortune, I was now able to help other people!

I further foresaw, that if I would not help, my conscience, later, would torture me. So, I helped, hoping that all, who would meet the same dilemma, would understand my reasoning and will reach out too."