Anica Kovačič

Anica Kovačič (née Mislej; March 28, 1923 – March 11, 2019) was a Slovenian woman who befriended Anne Frank in Bergen-Belsen.

Biography Anica Kovačič (née Mislej) was born on March 28, 1923, in Veliko Polje near Sežana. Her father made a living cutting wood, unable to advance as a Slovenian at a time of Italian fascism. She joined the resistance movement during World War II but was betrayed and arrested by the German army in the village of Prestranek in 1944, imprisoned in Gorica, and sent to the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp on January 26, 1945. Kovačič reported that Frank had grown weak and was losing hope. She tried to comfort her and lift her spirits, but Frank died March 31, 1945. Kovačič was liberated by the British April 23, 1945. It discussed how Kovačič was likely the only Yugoslav woman who knew Frank and was with her when she died. However, the article didn't generate interest by the public at the time. They interviewed her in 2013 and published the interview in 2018. [Frank] said that she wouldn’t last. I said, “Be patient, hold on,” I held her, I said, “Don’t die. No, no, hold on. Just keep it that way!”, right? She said, “I won’t make it,” she said. “I won’t.” But then she died. She died with me holding her in my arms.