Bep Voskuijl (5 July 1919 - 6 May 1983). At just 23 years old, she became one of the brave helpers who risked everything to hide the Frank family and others in the secret annex in Amsterdam. She worked in Otto Frank’s office and used her position to bring food, books, paper, and comfort to those in hiding. Quiet and kind, Bep and Anne Frank grew especially close. Anne trusted her, confided in her, and even wrote about her in her diary with warmth and affection. Bep never sought fame. After the war, she lived a quiet life. But her actions echo through time. She didn’t carry a weapon. She didn’t wear a uniform. Bep Voskuijl will always be remembered - not just as a helper, but as a friend. |
| She begged her family to hide with her. They believed staying was safer. She survived. They didn’t. And she spent 84 years making sure the world remembered their names. On September 4, 2024, Barbara Ledermann Rodbell passed away at 99 years old—on the exact day she was born. She was one of the last people alive who had personally known Anne Frank. Barbara grew up in Amsterdam, studying ballet and sharing everyday teenage life with Anne and Margot Frank. After the war, she became one of the first people to read Anne’s diary—before the world ever knew it existed. Barbara survived using false identity papers. Her parents and her sister Sanne were deported and never returned. Anne and Margot never returned. Almost her entire childhood community was gone. But Barbara did something extraordinary: she devoted the rest of her life to making sure they were never forgotten. She spoke in schools, museums, universities. She told students, “Anne was my friend. She laughed, she dreamed, she wanted to be a writer.” She helped millions understand that history’s names were once living, breathing people. Barbara lived to 99. Sanne was 16. Anne was 15. Barbara used her extra 84 years to honor the girls who never got to grow old. She survived. And she made sure their voices survived too. |
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