Pieter Vriend

Pieter Vriend was a Dutch Farmer living in Andijk, a small Dutch village on the Ijsselmeer. He worked growing flowers.

In 1942, the Dutch Jewish family Van Der Velde lived in Amsterdam. The family consisted of Izaak Van Der Velde, his wife Regina Van Der Velde, and their 2 sons Hans and Max Van Der Velde. In August, their house was seized by Nazi German troops and they were forced into the separate Jewish area set aside by the Nazi German government. They were about to be shipped to a Nazi concentration camp or worse a Nazi death camp when Pop Vriend, son of Pieter heard of their plight from a friend of Izaak Van Der Velde. Pieter and Pop used a variety of techniques to smuggle out the Van Der Velde family eventually.

The Van Der Velde family first stayed at Pop Vriend's house with his wife Grietje (both 26) and their son Wil (1). They moved to a Cow Shed in September of 1942 where a hidden area was made that they shared with another Jewish man. There they stayed for over 2 years until the Netherlands received its independence. Pieter Vriend provided food through a boat using the canals that crisscrossed the landscape and a doctor provided medical supplies as needed. They were doing this at immense peril to their own lives as If they were discovered, they would be executed along with anybody remotely found to be helping their effort. After the War ended, the Van Der Velde family stayed in the area while the Vriend family stayed in Andijk, with their descendants still living there. The Vriend family is now remembered in Yad Vashem.