Marianne "Janny" (or "Jannie") Brandes-Brilleslijper (24 October 1916 – 15 August 2003) was a Dutch Holocaust survivor and one of the last people to see Anne Frank. She is the sister of singer Lin Jaldati (born Rebekka Brilleslijper; 1912–1988).[1][2][3] Both Brandes-Brilleslijper and Jaldati (nicknamed "Lientje") were in the Westerbork, Auschwitz and Bergen-Belsen concentration camps with Anne and her older sister Margot Frank.
Janny Brandes-Brilleslijper | |
|---|---|
| Born | Marianne Brilleslijper 24 October 1916 Amsterdam, Netherlands |
| Died | 15 August 2003 (aged 86) Amsterdam, Netherlands |
| Burial place | Zorgvlied, Amsterdam, Netherlands 52°20′8″N 4°54′1″E / 52.33556°N 4.90028°E |
| Known for | Holocaust survivor |
| Spouse |
Bob Brandes
(m. 1939; died 1998) |
| Children | 2 |
| Relatives | Lin Jaldati (sister) |
Life
editBrandes-Brilleslijper was born Marianne Brilleslijper in Amsterdam on 24 October 1916,[1][4][5] the middle of three children of Fijtje (née Gerritse) and Joseph Brilleslijper.[2][4] In 1939, she married Cornelis Teunis "Bob" Brandes (1912–1998),[4][5] and they had two children: Robert and Liselotte Dolores.[4] After the Nazis invaded the Netherlands, Janny and Bob, along with Lientje, began to work in the Resistance. Janny kept Jewish people hidden in her home, and she never officially registered as a Jew.
The Nazis wanted to arrest Janny and her family because of her involvement in the resistance. While her husband and children escaped, Janny and Lientje were arrested,[6] in the summer of 1944, and were transported to the Westerbork transit camp. In Westerbork, they were listed as "criminals" and had to work in the work barracks. In those barracks, Janny and Lientje met Anne and Margot and befriended them.[7]
From Westerbork, Janny, Lientje, and the Franks were transported to Auschwitz. Janny and Lientje were later transported to the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp, where Anne and Margot were also transported in October 1944. Janny, who was made a nurse in the camp, took care of the ill prisoners.[8][7] In March 1945, Anne and Margot died within a few days of each other. Janny and Lientje buried them in the mass graves at the camp.
After the war, Brandes-Brilleslijper was reunited with her husband and children. Through the Red Cross, she contacted Otto Frank and informed him about the deaths of his daughters, Anne and Margot.[9] She returned to Amsterdam, where she grew up.[7]
Brandes-Brilleslijper told her story about Anne and Margot's final days for the first time in the International Emmy Award winning documentary movie The Last Seven Months of Anne Frank (1988), directed by Dutch filmmaker Willy Lindwer.
Brandes-Brilleslijper died of heart failure in Amsterdam on 15 August, 2003 at the age of 86.[5][10] She is buried at Zorgvlied cemetery.[7]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ a b "ZZ-TV - dossier of persons - Brandes-Brilleslijper, Janny". www.zeitzeugen-tv.com. Archived from the original on 2016-06-03. Retrieved 2016-05-14.
- ^ a b "lin jaldati - joodsamsterdam". joodsamsterdam (in Dutch). Retrieved 2016-05-14.
- ^ "rebekka-brilleslijper.pdf" (PDF).
- ^ a b c d "Marianne (Jannie) Brandes-Brilleslijper". geni_family_tree. 24 October 1916. Retrieved 2016-05-14.
- ^ a b c "Jannie Brandes-Brilleslijper". The Independent. 2003-08-20. Retrieved 2016-05-14.
- ^ "Anne Frank's death torturous, lonely". Tampa Bay Times. October 3, 2005. Retrieved 2021-08-22.
- ^ a b c d "J. Brandes-Brilleslijper, 86; Dutch Resister Gave Aid to Anne Frank in Nazi Camp". Los Angeles Times. 2003-08-20. Retrieved 2021-08-22.
- ^ Interview in The Last Seven Months of Anne Frank by Willy Lindwer
- ^ "Anne Frank Diary Reference: People". annefrankdiaryreference.org.
- ^ admin (22 August 2003). "Camp nurse, last person to see Anne Frank alive, dies | j. the Jewish news weekly of Northern California". www.jweekly.com. Retrieved 2016-05-14.