The Freedom Writers Diary - Erin Gruwell [48]
My first stop was the Netherlands. One of the perks of being a concierge at the Marriott is that I get to stay at other hotels with an employee discount, so I stayed at the Amsterdam Marriott in the middle of the city. It was my second time to Amsterdam, but since I’ve met Miep and seen the documentary Anne Frank Remembered, it meant so much more to me.
I made the arrangements to meet Miep and her friend Cor at my hotel. I gave her a care package from my students that had a “Miep Mania” jersey from our Basketball for Bosnia tournament, beautifully framed pictures from her visit and the issue of People magazine that had a picture of her with my students. Apparently, they made quite an impression on her, and she even said, “Several of your students’ faces have been engraved in my heart.”
We also talked about Anne. Even though it’s been over fifty years since Anne passed away, she said that not a day goes by that she doesn’t think about her. As she described their special relationship and all the sacrifices she made during their two years in hiding, I sat there in awe. She told me stories about riding her bike miles in the snow just to dig up turnips and about the time that Anne convinced her to spend a night in the attic. Not only was she generous, but she was also very courageous. She described how she stormed into Nazi headquarters and tried to bribe Gestapo agents to let her friends go after they were captured. Hiding Jews was a crime punishable by death, so she was lucky that she wasn’t killed. Although she couldn’t save her friends, she did save Anne’s precious diary. Now when millions of people think of the Holocaust, they think of Anne.
What impressed me most was her humility. Despite all the accolades she received, she doesn’t think her actions were heroic or even out of the ordinary. She told me that what she hopes people will learn from her life “is that every individual, even a very ordinary housewife or secretary, can make a difference.” I can’t wait to share her simple philosophy with my students that they too can make a difference—like Anne or Zlata.
Miep was so excited when I told her I was flying to Dublin to spend time with Zlata and her parents. She met Zlata a couple years ago on her book tour and said she had “Anne’s eyes.”
After I spent a few days in Amsterdam trying to see things through Anne’s perspective, I flew to Ireland to visit Zlata and her parents. They had just returned from their summer vacation on the Croatian coast. It was the first time they had returned to the Balkans since they fled the war in the winter of ’93. Mirna’s parents missed her, so she plans to stay in Sarajevo this year to go to school. Zlata and Mirna were inseparable since they left Bosnia, so they’re both going to have a hard time adjusting.
Zlata said that so much has changed in Sarajevo since the war began. We spent a lot of time looking at family photos before the war broke out. The soccer field that once held the 1984 Olympics is now filled with tombstones. Even though the buildings are in the process of being rebuilt, Zlata’s parents feel like it will take a long time to rebuild relations. There is still a lot of animosity and racial tension.
Although Zlata’s book sheds light on the problems occurring in Bosnia, it wasn’t until she left that she realized the magnitude of this war. So we spent hours talking about politics, looking at photos, and making predictions about what will happen when all the American soldiers leave.
Even though Zlata’s the same age as my students, she seems so much wiser. Sometimes she’s very philosophical and at others she’s a typical teenager. After we’d spent hours talking about politics over a traditional Bosnian meal, she wanted to take me shopping in Dublin and show off her adopted city. She took me to see a punk rock band, helped me pick out Doc Martens and she and her friend, Daragh, made a video for my students.
We got so close