Janny Brandes-Brilslijper

Who was Janny Brandes-Brilslijper?

Janny Brandes-Brilleslijper (August 24, 1916- August 15, 2003) was the person who informed Otto Frank about the deaths of Anne Frank and Margot Frank. Janny and her sister Lientje were in the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp with Anne and Margot.

Janny was born in Amsterdam, the middle of three children of her parents. One of her sisters was Lientje Brilleslijper. In 1939, Janny married Bob Brandes, and they had two children: Rob, born on 1939, and Lilo, born in 1941. 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. However, the Nazis often wanted to arrest Janny and her family, and they made some narrow escapes. Finally, Janny and Lientje were arrested in in the summer of 1944, and were transported to the Westerbork Transit camp. In Westerbork, they were listed as criminals and had to work hard in the work barracks. In those barracks, Janny and Lientje met Anne and Margot and befriended them. Janny and Lientje were later, along with the Franks, 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. In March 1945, Anne and Margot died. Janny and Lientje buried them in the mass graves of the camp.

After the war, Janny was reunited with her husband and children. Through the Red Cross, she contacted with Otto Frank and informed him about Anne and Margot's death.

Janny gave interviews about Anne and Margot's final days in the documentary movie The Last Seven Months of Anne Frank (1987), which was directed by Willy Lindwer.

Janny died in August 15, 2003.