Walraven [ Wally ] Van Hall

 The Walraven Foundation was formed in honor of Wally’s Spirit and his humanitarian work for Freedom — Born in 1906 to an influential Dutch family, Walraven Van Hall came from a family of bankers and directors — though he was attracted to the sea and studied to become an officer in the Merchant Marine. He worked for a few years as third mate, though he could not continue due to his poor eyesight.

Van Hall then moved to New York City in 1929. His brother, Gijs Van Hall — the future mayor of Amsterdam supported Wall in getting a job with a Wall Street firm. When Van Hall returned to the Netherlands he married Tilly den Tex, they welcomed three children and shared a great love.

In March 1940, Van Hall became a partner and Director in the banking house ‘Wed J te Veltrup & Zoon’. When the war broke out, the young family was living in Zaadam. Each Day Wally would visit the Amsterdam Stock Exchange on business. It was there, Van Hall created the contacts he used when leading the Resistance.

 After the Germans invaded the Netherlands in May 1940 — the Dutch Resistance established a fund to help families of merchant-sailors who were stranded over seas. Wally Van Hall was asked to help set up the Amsterdam chapter, together with his brother Gijs.

The Germans began taking anti-Jewish and forced labor measures — In response, the resistance against these measures increased. Van Hall grew his fund-raising activities — he then became known as “The Banker” to the resistance.

With the approval of the Dutch government-in-exile, Van Hall gathered illegal loans from the De Nederlandsche Bank (Dutch National Bank), this fund was able to distribute 83 million guilders to victims of the occupation and countless resistance groups — Nout Wellink, former president of the bank compared this sum to a half billion Euros in 2010.

Another way of collecting money was borrowing from wealthy Dutch people, as a proof of their investments, they received a worthless stock — after the war they could get their money back in exchange for the stock paper.

The organization, the National Steunfonds (the NSF) was unique in Europe during WW II — In 1944, Walraven was the leader of the NSF (National Support Fund); he was also the coordinator of the Kern ("Nucleus") and the Driehoek ("Triangle"), a cooperation of various Dutch resistance groups. The NSF supported a variety of resistance groups and underground papers like Het Parool, Trouw, and Vrij Nederland. Throughout the country there were 23 NSF districts, with district heads, cashiers, administrators and collecting clerks.

Dutch historian L. de Jong, called Walraven the most important man in the Dutch Resistance He wrote, “… he had the amazing ability to strip the emotional interference of a problem so that two parties could come together and reach a solution that was agreeable for everyone.”

To keep the money flowing, Wally Van Hall argued that only large amounts of at least 25,000 Guilders should be loaned. He hoped that this would reduce the risk of being caught. For this reason, he and his brother devised a system for the intricate web of illegal loans, all administered in code.

On 27 January 1945, the weekly meeting place was revealed by a member of the resistance who had been arrested the day, and thought the group would know and not attend. Days later, Teus van Vliet, a founding member of the Dutch resistance was betrayed by the Dutch collaborator Johan van Lom — Van Vliet broke under torture and the Germans were led to several leading members of the resistance, including Walraven Van Hall.

Wally was subsequently executed in Haarlem on February 12, 1945 — In two and a half months the war would be over. After the war, he was buried in Overveen in the Erebegraafplaats Bloemendaal, an honorary cemetery.

In March 1945 the resistance newspaper. Vrije Gedachten published an In Memoriam which described him as “one of the leaders of the resistance whose authority was unchallenged.” — Immediately after the war, the process of clearing up all the wartime financial transactions began. Loans to the NSF were repaid by the Kingdom of the Netherlands.

After the war the NSF still had 22 million guilders in cash and the money was used toward building the national monument in Amsterdam and for the founding of the Netherlands Institute for War Documentation. In 1954 the NSF was finally dissolved.

Wally Van Hall was awarded by the Dutch government with the Dutch Cross of Resistance. The United States awarded him with the Medal of Freedom with Gold Palm. Israel recognized him as “Righteous Among The Nations” in 1978.

In honor of his deeds in the resistance, a monument was erected in the fall of 2010 by Artist,  Fernando Sánchez Castillo — a bronze tree lies like a “fallen giant” opposite the Dutch Central Bank.

Walraven Van Hall was the bridge builder between the resistance groups and those in need; a leading figure in the resistance. The Walraven Foundation is informed with Wally’s will to be of service. As we plant trees — we hope to lift up Humanity with a compassionate Spirit —