Abraham Benjamin de Vries was born in Haarlem as the son of Benjamin Abraham de Vries and Suzanne Dondorp. Abraham de Vries was a furniture-maker, but went to work for the railway company in 1903. He worked at the Amsterdamsche Vaart in Haarlem. Abraham de Vries was a member of the executive committee of the ‘Rail and Tram Company’ trade union.
One of Abraham’s activities in his free time was recruiting members for the cremation society. He could also be found every Saturday afternoon behind the counter of the Savings Fund run by the club ‘the Working Man’s Friend’. This Fund was intended to help donors save money for blankets and coal. On Sunday mornings, Abraham de Vries collected contributions for the SDAP. He delivered the proceeds at the HAS building in Smedestraat, Haarlem.
Abraham de Vries’s wife Jans Duim died in 1930 at the age of 47. In October 1931 he married again; his new wife was Meintje 'Mina' Koe, a friend of the family.
The couple did not want to go into hiding in 1942, as they did not feel there was any great danger. Later they changed their minds, and Meintje Koe bleached her hair. With the help of a railway guard, the couple were able to hide in a railway hut in Enkhuizen. Since a Jewish man had escaped from Enkhuizen police station after being arrested in August 1942, the police were ordered to mount a major manhunt operation, and Abraham de Vries and Meintje Koe were discovered. Abraham de Vries was sent to the prison on Amstelveensche Weg in Amsterdam, and from there to Camp Amersfoort. On 13 November 1942 he arrived in Westerbork. A month later he was deported to Auschwitz.
Addition of a visitor of the website
Biography