Episode 7 of A Small Light was good but for the most part very intense, although the entire episode happen in one day and its focus on a single moment but probably the most important one of the series and what its really about, the story of Miep Gies and the memories of Ann Frank.
German soldier at the time were like bloodhounds to find hide outs and identify people that were hiding Jews at the time, I wont say it was a skill but at the same time most people were terrified if they were ask by a German officer wearing an SS badge and a Skull on their visor cap, people crap out as soon as they were ask even if they were not hiding people, I'm sure there were a lot that went to jail or even killed just because a German officer suspect there was a chance he was not getting the truth from them.
There is something that was barely mention on this episode that was an important part towards the end of the war, I have seen it been mention on other documentaries and it was how it was a "every man for himself" situation, there was a big pressure from the allies knocking on the Germans door plus they were loosing battles left and right, on the series seems it was business as usual in Amsterdam as German officer Karl raided Mr. Frank office, Miep trying to make some small talk as a gamble to end up Karl's good side mention his accent and how she was from Vienna too, when they were alone Karl stole a watch from the Frank's possessions and Miep told him he knows this was wrong and he didn't agree with it like he was force to do it, I'm sure at the beginning of the War the soldiers and the army was firm with the ideology but as they start loosing ground many German Officers like Karl start to doubt their motives and had that feeling they were loosing but orders are orders so he had to at least make others believe he will stick with the regime and continue to follow orders without questioning.
I have to give to Miep, she was a fierce woman, on the previous episode there were clear signs she was already loosing her patience with the Germans and was not scare of them if she had to confront them, obviously she didn't want to die so she was smart about it, in this episode Miep again confront a German officer but soon understood there was not much she can do about the situation and the best was to play dumb, pretending she knew nothing about it and survive to then come up with some plan to recover the Franks and she did, she went straight in to the Lion's Den, she knew once some one specially Jews were taken by the German Army it was very very hard to let them go but she still try her best.
Officer Karl Silberbauer raid Mr. Frank office, most workers at the office were terrified specially Bep, at times I thought she was either going to pass out brake and snitch on the Franks, Mr. Frank employees were loyal to him and stay put until the end but Karl was a very clever officer and probably with experience locating hide outs, but the truth is that the Franks were sold by some one, during the interaction they mention a man called Dettmann at the German Head Quarter in Amsterdam who got the tip that there were Jews hiding on that office, with such intel the rest was up to officer Karl to sniff around and find them.
Officer Karl I think was the star of this episode, they were looking around and couldn't find the hide out besides the employees were not telling anything so he kept looking, Karl keeps looking, they get to the storage room that had the entrance to the room where the Franks hide, Mr. Victor Kruger the office manger tries to sell them the idea there was a warehouse so he can diver their attention to the storage room but Karl probably felt it was too easy so he kept looking and when he gets close to the floor notice the marks, the bookshelf had to be moved like a door every day and left a mark on the floor so he knew it was a cover, puts his gun to Kruger's head and force him to open it, Kruger knew it was the end, either he opens it or they kill him and open it, some may say they would not help but there are times that its better to cooperate, stay alive and then find a way to help them from the outside, during those times it was worst because getting detained for hiding people was basically a death sentence.
As member of the resistance Jan went to his boss who was also part of the resistance to get help, rescue his wife and the Franks but during a war like that they had to recognize that they will loose battles from time to time, probably the worst the Franks could do was to stay on the city, Miep hide them for over two years, at first was just the Franks but then the group grew up in numbers and even the man who deliver them potatoes knew Miep was hiding people, there was just too much food bring into the office.
Karl starts talking in German and had an accent from Vienna, specially Miep's mother accent like they were from the same region so she talks back in German and let him know she is from Vienna too, Karl had sympathy for her and let Miep stay, she tried to persuade him to at least leave the girls with her but it was too late, there were too many other officers at the place that witness the raid, there was nothing he could do to stop it even if he wanted, so he let Miep stay and even ask her not to run away since that will get him in trouble.
The Franks were heart broken, only Mr. Otto look strong against the adversity but he had too, he was the head of the group, Anne dreams to go out again were destroy on that moment when they were getting into the military truck, days before Mrs Frank told Miep she felt there was something wrong and something bad was about to happen, two years is a lot of time hiding and they had a lot of things against them that could make their plain failed, the amount of people living with them, the amount of food they were taking into the office, the entire city was now getting populated with German soldiers but the worst was Tonny Ahlers who was looking for Mr. Frank under every rock to collect, he was blackmailing him, Tonny was confronted by Miep latter on that night, she slap him and call him out.
Miep comes up with a plan to get the Franks back, she wants to bribe German Officer Karl Silberbauer, the moment she talk to him at the office she felt his doubt about what they were doing, it was known between the people in the city that the allies were close and the Germans loosing the was the she thought it would be easy to bribe Karl and get the Franks back, Miep, Jan and Bep talk to everyone they knew would help and collect a lot of money considering the situation, many help as much as they could. Back then people were really loyal, specially those who were helping others like the Frank's, helping them to overcome their political situation, all Miep had was her word, Jan obviously didn't want her to take such huge risk but she convince him she could not live knowing she didn't do everything she could to save the Franks and that he wouldn't want to live with her if she didn't try so both agree it was her to go to the Germans HQ and try to bribe Officer Karl.
Episode 1: @skiptvads/a-small-light-pilot-episode
Episode 2: @skiptvads/a-small-light-welcome-to
Episode 3: @skiptvads/a-small-light-motherland-episode
Episode 4: @skiptvads/a-small-light-the-butterfly
Episode 5: @skiptvads/a-small-light-scheissfeld-season
