Janny Brandes-Brilleslijper Dutch woman, concentration camp prisoner Date of Birth: 24.08.1916 Country: Netherlands

Biography of Janny Brandes-Brilleslijper

Janny Brandes-Brilleslijper, a Dutch woman, was a survivor of the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp and a former nurse at the camp. She was one of the last people to see Anne Frank. Janny was born in Amsterdam and was the middle child of three. At the age of 14, she dropped out of school and started working various jobs throughout her life.

In 1939, Janny married Bob Brandes and they had two children, Rob in 1939 and Lilo in 1941. Bob was not Jewish, and their marriage was met with disapproval from both their parents. After the Nazis invaded the Netherlands, Bob, Janny, and her sister joined the local Resistance. Janny hid Jews in her home, even though she was not officially registered as a Jew herself. She helped many Jews obtain false documents. The Nazis frequently tried to arrest Janny and her family, but they miraculously managed to escape several times.

Unfortunately, their luck did not last long. In the summer of 1944, Janny and her sister were arrested and sent to the Westerbork transit camp after extensive interrogations, torture, and beatings. In Westerbork, the sisters were registered as criminals and sent to work barracks, where they met Anne and Margot Frank. From Westerbork, Janny, the Frank sisters, and others were transferred to Auschwitz. Later, in October 1944, they were all reunited in Bergen-Belsen.

In the concentration camp, Janny worked as a nurse and cared for the sick prisoners. In March 1945, Anne and Margot Frank passed away, and Janny and her sister buried them in the communal graves of the camp. After the war, Janny managed to find her husband and children. With the help of the Red Cross, she also located Otto Frank and informed him about the circumstances of his daughters' deaths.

Later, Janny shared her firsthand account of the Frank sisters' final days for the documentary film "The Last Seven Months of Anne Frank," directed by Willy Lindwer and released in 1987. Janny Brandes-Brilleslijper passed away on August 15, 2003, at the age of 86.