De Vries was born in the Frisian town of
Feanwâlden. His parents moved to Apeldoorn in 1920. In 1936 he joined the
Communist Party of the Netherlands and a year later he moved to
Amsterdam to pursue a career in journalism. He became editor of the communist newspaper
De Tribune (later renamed as
De Waarheid) and
De Vrije Katheder. During the occupation of the Netherlands by the Nazi forces he was arrested and imprisoned in
Kamp Amersfoort. After the war he eventually became a member of the city council of Amsterdam. == Works ==