Porgel & Porulan in the Resistance

Although little known, Jews were also active in the resistance during World War II. They were members of communist and social-democratic resistance groups, the Ordedienst and were involved in the February strike of 1941.

The ‘PP-group’, named after the fantasy creatures Porgel and Porulan from the clandestine published nonsense rhyme by Cees Buddingh, was led by Bob van Amerongen and Jan Hemelrijk. Both had a Jewish father. The resistance group specialised in helping Jewish people in hiding and probably saved the lives of dozens of Jews (mainly family and friends). Bob van Amerongen occupied himself with hiding people and Jan Hemelrijk specialised in forging identity cards. 

The group got more and more work as the war progressed. As a result, more and more members came from the group’s own circles. Most members had a Jewish background, such as interior designer Ab Stuiver and actor Rob de Vries, but there were also non-Jewish members, such as Tini Israël and her friend Karel van het Reve. By the end of the war, the PP group had grown into a close-knit organisation with 19 core members, mostly former pupils of the Murmellius Gymnasium in Alkmaar, where Jan and Bob had been at school, and the Vossius Gymnasium in Amsterdam.

The PP-group was one of the 38 Amsterdam resistance groups that united in 1944 in the federation Free Groups Amsterdam (VGA). It was only on this occasion that Jan Hemelrijk gave the group the name PP-group; all groups had to choose a pseudonym. The 38 groups, of which about 20% of the members had a Jewish or half-Jewish background, played an active role in helping Amsterdam Jews even before the LO (the national organisation for helping people in hiding) became active in the summer of 1943.

The five interviewees – Dineke Broers-Hemelrijk (Jan Hemelrijk’s sister), Mark van Rossum du Chatel (a member of the PP group) and Bob van Amerongen and his hiders Jaap Lobatto and Miep Gompes-Lobatto – talk about their experiences during the Second World War.

The interviews (recorded 2008-2009) have been incorporated into the documentary and the book ‘Fatsoenlijk land’ (2013) by Loes Gompes.