| Lise Gimpel | |
| Fictional Character | |
| In the Presence of Mine Enemies POD: c. 1940 | |
| Type of Appearance: | Direct POV |
| Nationality: | Germany |
| Religion: | Judaism (secret) |
| Date of Birth: | c. 1971 |
| Occupation: | Housewife |
| Parents: | Herr Franks |
| Spouse: | Heinrich Gimpel |
| Children: | Alicia, Francesca, Roxane |
| Relatives: | Käthe Franks (sister) |
Lise Gimpel, née Franks was the wife of Heinrich Gimpel, the elder sister of Käthe Franks, and the mother of Alicia, Francesca, and Roxane. Like her husband, Lise was also a Jew. Her parents were killed by a drunk driver when Lise was pregnant with Francesca.
In March 2010, the Gimpels, along with Jewish friends the Stutzmans and Susanna Weiss informed Alicia of her true heritage. Lise, the perfect image of a good Hausfrau, helped her children with school projects, cooked and cleaned, and ran the household. She also spent the year helping her daughter come to grips with the truth, while keeping her other daughters in the dark.
Lise also had to contend with Erika Dorsch's intentions for Heinrich. The Dorsches were friends of the Gimpels; Heinrich and Willi Dorsch were co-workers, and the Gimpels and the Dorsches routinely played bridge together. The Dorsches did not know that the Gimpels were Jewish. When the Dorsches' marriage began to disintegrate, Erika grew more and more determined to seduce Heinrich.
When Heinrich flatly refused Erika's most blatant attempt at seduction early in 2011, Erika denounced Heinrich as a Jew (not knowing the truth). Heinrich and the Gimpel daughters were taken into custody by the Security Police. Lise was not, however, and made efforts to secure their release. She was also forced to destroy some of the few photographs and records she had of relatives who had been exterminated, so they wouldn't be discovered.
Although Lise engaged attorney Klaus Menzel and Erika retracted her statement, Heinrich and the girls were released through the covert aid of another, previously unknown secret Jew who held the rank of major in the Security Police.
The family attempted to settle back into a routine. However, outside events intervened in their lives again, as the SS attempted a Putsch against Führer Heinz Buckliger in an effort to halt reform. Lise watched the course of events on television, painfully aware that her husband was in the thick of it. Once the Putsch failed, Lise and her family breathed a sigh of relief.
In 2012, Lise and her family told the secret to her second daughter, Francesca.
| ||||||||||||||||
