(Aalten, 1923)

Member of the 1st Company DNB

“Freedom is man’s greatest asset”

Jacob Fries was born in Aalten on 21 January 1923, the eldest child of Georg and Jansje Fries. Two brothers were born after him. The family lived at Dijkstraat 30, which also housed his father’s plumbing business. Jacob joined the resistance early in the war. It began with minor sabotage and steadily grew more intensive. He was engaged to Dien Heinen from Hogestraat. Her mother, Riek Heinen-Rots, had been widowed young and was asked by her minister in 1942 to take in a girl named Nita Visser. Nita remained with the family until 1947. It was only after the war that she revealed her real name: she was Nita Waisvisz and was Jewish. Her sister was hidden elsewhere and also survived the war, but her parents did not. Jacob arranged food and clothing ration cards for Nita and the other people in hiding at the Heinen household.

In September 1944, Jacob became a member of the Interior Forces (Binnenlandse Strijdkrachten) in Aalten. He ensured there was sufficient food for his resistance comrades undergoing strict military training at the ‘De Bark’ farm in IJzerlo. The meals for the 30 men of De Bark were cooked by the farmer’s wife, Mrs Jansen of ‘Teubenhuis’. During the Allied weapon drops in the ‘Aaltense Goor’ in October and November 1944, Jacob Fries played a vital role. He constructed the lightboxes required for the aircraft’s orientation and provided batteries, bulbs, and all equipment as prescribed by London.

In the final months of the war, Jacob encountered two men in German uniform in the village centre who told him they wanted to desert. Originally from Alsace, they asked for help in going into hiding. Jacob alerted the members of the De Bark group and took the men to an address in the village, where the leader of the group interrogated the Alsatians. Shortly thereafter, these (fanatical) Alsatians became part of the De Bark resistance group.

From early December 1944, the Aalten military policeman (marechaussee) Hans Renshof, a resistance comrade of Jacob’s, went into hiding at the Fries home. He joined the De Bark group but returned to Dijkstraat after a few weeks. During the bombardment of Dijkstraat on 24 March 1945, a bomb hit the workshop/barn of Jacob’s father, destroying the house as well. Jacob’s brother, Dick Fries, and Hans Renshof were buried under the rubble. Jacob pulled them both out from beneath the debris.

In mid-April 1945, shortly after the liberation, Jacob Fries, his younger brother Dick Fries, and his comrade Hans Renshof joined the first company of the Dutch National Battalion.

After the war, Jacob married Dien Heinen. She passed away in 2019; Jacob predeceased her.

Jacob Fries