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Jannie Brandes - Brilleslijper

Jannie Brilleslijper and her sister Rebekka were in the same transport as the Frank family to Auschwitz-Birkenau.

Person

  • Marianne Brilleslijper
  • Born on: Oct. 24, 1916
  • Born in: Amsterdam, Nederland
  • Died on: Aug. 15, 2003
  • Died in: Amsterdam, Nederland

Marianne (Jannie) Brilleslijper and her sister Rebekka witnessed Anne and Margot in the infirmary barracks in Bergen Belsen.

Jannie Brilleslijper was born at Nieuwe Kerkstraat 81.[1] She grew up in a Jewish family that lived at various addresses in the centre of Amsterdam. In 1936 they moved to the still new district of Bos en Lommer. Jannie's father was a fruit merchant and in her younger years she worked as a servant and as a dressmaker.[2]

On 9 August 1939 she married Cornelis Teunis (Bob) Brandes in Amsterdam.[3] His parents were against the marriage. Witnesses to the marriage were an uncle of Marianne and her sister Rebekka.[4] With her husband, Jannie was involved in socialist and communist groups.[5]

On 10 July 1944, she and her brother, sister and future brother-in-law were arrested during a raid on her home in Naarden. The party of nine was taken to the Police Headquarters in Amsterdam at ten minutes to six in the afternoon. The following day, Jannie's parents followed.[6]

She arrived in Westerbork at the end of July 1944[7] and from there, on 3 September 1944, was deported to Auschwitz on the last transport from the Netherlands. Her sister, her parents, and the people from the Secret Annex were also on this transport. Like her sister, Jannie was a mixed marriage member of the Schutzhäftlinge, a group with a different status from the rest.[8]

Jannie and her sister left Auschwitz-Birkenau as part of mass transports of women who were more or less fit for work to Bergen-Belsen from late October 1944. Anne and Margot Frank were also among them. They were all part of a group of mostly Dutch women who spent a lot of time together. Jannie witnessed the illness, but not the death of Anne and Margot.[9]

The Brilleslijper sisters were still in Bergen-Belsen when British troops liberated the camp on 15 April 1945.[10]

In October 1945, Jannie stayed at a sanatorium in Bloemendaal. Through her sister she came into contact with Otto Frank, who was looking for people who knew more about the death of his children.[11] This was necessary in order to be able to obtain an official death certificate. On 13 January 1946, she wrote and signed a note in which she made a statement to this effect.[12]

When Ernst Schnabel was working on his book about Anne Frank in 1958, for unknown reasons he was unable to talk to Jannie. Otto Frank wanted her to record her memories of Anne and found Lewinsohn willing to make the recordings.[13] It is not known whether this plan was implemented.

The story of Jannie Brilleslijper and her sister Rebekka was turned by Roxane van Iperen into a novel, which was published in 2018.[14]

Source personal data.[15] Addresses: Bloys van Treslongstraat 35, Amsterdam (1936);[2] Bankastraat 131, The Hague (Jan. 1939); Nieuwe Achtergracht 14-II, Amsterdam (March 1939); Bazarlaan 70, The Hague (Aug. 1939); 78 (Jan. 1940); Driftweg 2, Naarden (May 1943); Amstel 101, Amsterdam (Nov. 1945).[16]

Footnotes

  1. ^ Stadsarchief Amsterdam (SAA), Burgerlijke Stand, inv. nr. 7788, akte 12428.
  2. a, b SAA, Dienst Bevolkingsregister, Gezinskaarten (toegangsnummer 5422): Gezinskaart J. Brilleslijper (1891).
  3. ^ “Familieberichten”, Zaans Volksblad. Sociaal-democratisch dagblad, 9 augustus en 10 oktober 1939.
  4. ^ SAA, Burgerlijke Stand (toegang 5009), inv. nr. 6552: Register van huwelijksakten 1939, deel 29, 16v, aktenr. 31.
  5. ^ Willy Lindwer, De laatste zeven maanden van Anne Frank. Het ongeschreven laatste hoofdstuk van het Dagboek, Hilversum: Gooi & Stichting, 1988, p. 59-60.
  6. ^ SAA, Gemeentepolitie Amsterdam (toegang 5225), inv. nr. 7202: fouilleringsregister 22 mei – 31 augustus 1944, 10 juli 1944, 17.50 uur & 11 juli 1944, 21.00 uur. Zie ook: Ad van Liempt, Kopgeld. Nederlandse premiejagers op zoek naar joden 1943, Amsterdam: Balans, 2009, p. 192-194.
  7. ^ Het Nederlanse Rode Kruis (NRK), Den Haag, Bureau Oorlogsnazorg, inv. nr. (?): Lijst van personen die van 23. Juli t/m 29 Juli 1944 in het Lager Westerbork zijn gearriveerd, volgnr. 8.
  8. ^ NRK, Bureau Oorlogsnazorg, inv. nr. 1066: Transportlijst Westerbork – Auschwitz, 3 september 1944, nrs. 225-227, 306-309, 555-558, 788 en 884; Wikipedia: Protective custody (Nazi Germany).
  9. ^ Lindwer, De laatste zeven maanden, p. 90-91.
  10. ^ Lindwer, De laatste zeven maanden, p. 92-93.
  11. ^ Anne Frank Stichting (AFS), Anne Frank Collectie (AFC), Otto Frank Archief (OFA), reg. code OFA_085: Brief (doorslag) Otto Frank aan Lien Rebling–Brilleslijper, 4 oktober 1945 en Lien Rebling–Brilleslijper aan Otto Frank, 24 oktober 1945.
  12. ^ AFS, AFC, reg. code AFS.01205: Brief J. Brandes – Brilleslijper, 13 januari 1946.
  13. ^ AFS, AFC, reg. code OFA_085: Brief (doorslag) Otto Frank aan Jannie Brandes – Brilleslijper, 8 september 1957.
  14. ^ Roxane van Iperen, ’t Hooge Nest, Amsterdam: Lebowski Publishers, 2018.
  15. ^ SAA, Burgerlijke Stand (toegang 5009), inv. nr. 7788: register van geboorten 1916, deel 22, 42f, akte 12428; AFS, Getuigenarchief, Brandes – Brilleslijper: Rouwkaart Jannie Brilleslijper.
  16. ^ SAA, Dienst Bevolkingsregister, Persoonskaarten (toegangsnummer 30408): Persoonskaart M. Brilleslijper.