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Wednesday, June 21, 2023

Esther, the woman in the photo with the unknown or forgotten last name

"Present on both occasions was an attractive young Jewish woman named Esther, who was then working for Otto as a secretary. He later had to dismiss her under new laws regarding Jews in employment. Miep remembers:

'That's the way things were. She did not come back, I think. She did not survive the war. . . . She was the only one in the office who was Jewish. She said good -bye, and we wished her the best. She stayed in Amsterdam, but could not find work anywhere else. . . . It was all so painful, you see. You heard about her dismissal [from other jobs] but did not talk about it further. You did not know what was going to happen. You gave in to that. Had to accept it. The Germans were the boss and you were scared--frightened to death."

Page 84 of Carol Ann Lee's The Hidden Life of Otto Frank

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"Some of Otto Frank's employees in 1941. From left to right: Victor Kugler, Esther, Bep Voskuijl, Pine Wuurman and Miep Gies. Esther's last name is unknown. In 1942 Esther and Pine no longer work for Opekta. Photo collection: Anne Frank Stichting, Amsterdam"

https://www.annefrank.org/en/anne-frank/main-characters/miep-gies/

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