page_title: Vrije Groepen Amsterdam
hierarchical_section_title: Vrije Groepen Amsterdam
caption_attribution_description: RM2420 Amsterdam - Keizersgracht 695.jpg This is an image of rijksmonument number 2420
context_page_description: The Vrije Groepen Amsterdam was a federation of Dutch resistance groups in Amsterdam during the final years of World War II. The VGA was founded in late 1943 to coordinate the activities of Amsterdam's resistance groups. The groups counted some 350 members, about a fifth of whom had a Jewish or part-Jewish background. The VGA focused primarily on hiding Jews from the Nazis and caring for Jews in hiding. Their activities included distributing falsified identification documents, as well as ration cards and financial support, to Jews and others in hiding and to members of the resistance movement.
  The 38 groups united under the VGA umbrella included the PP group led by Bob van Amerongen and Jan Hemelrijk, which consisted mainly of Jewish and part-Jewish members. The groep-Gerretsen and groep-Brandsma resistance groups were also part of the VGA.
  The name vrije groepen indicated that the resistance groups did not want to join the national resistance organisation Landelijke Organisatie voor Hulp aan Onderduikers but preferred to remain independent.
context_section_description: The Vrije Groepen Amsterdam (VGA, "Free Groups of Amsterdam") was a federation of Dutch resistance groups in Amsterdam during the final years of World War II. The VGA was founded in late 1943 to coordinate the activities of Amsterdam's resistance groups. The groups counted some 350 members, about a fifth of whom had a Jewish or part-Jewish background. The VGA focused primarily on hiding Jews from the Nazis and caring for Jews in hiding. Their activities included distributing falsified identification documents, as well as ration cards and financial support, to Jews and others in hiding (so-called onderduikers) and to members of the resistance movement.
  The 38 groups united under the VGA umbrella included the PP group led by Bob van Amerongen and Jan Hemelrijk, which consisted mainly of Jewish and part-Jewish members. The groep-Gerretsen and groep-Brandsma resistance groups were also part of the VGA.
  The name vrije groepen ("free groups") indicated that the resistance groups did not want to join the national resistance organisation Landelijke Organisatie voor Hulp aan Onderduikers (LO) but preferred to remain independent. The choice to remain independent was often related to the fact that the LO reported all families hiding Jews and others from the Nazis to the Nationaal Steun Fonds (NSF), an organisation which coordinated the financial support of the Dutch resistance activities. This reporting was considered too risky by the vrije groepen, who therefore chose not to be affiliated with the LO. Another reason why these groups preferred to remain independent of the national organisations was that many of the groups represented specific minorities such as Jews or socialists.
caption: Keizersgracht 695 (centre of photo), where the organisation was founded in 1943
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