Jan Johannis Adriaan Berger (18 September 1918 – 6 September 1978) was a Dutch politician. During

WWII World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

he hid people who were supposed to be shipped off to

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

as forced labourers. In 1946 he became a member of the Labour Party. On 15 July 1952 he became a member of the

lower house A lower house is one of two Debate chamber, chambers of a Bicameralism, bicameral legislature, the other chamber being the upper house. Despite its official position "below" the upper house, in many legislatures worldwide, the lower house has co ...

. As member of the lower house he represented his party in matters of social security. He spent much effort on the creation and passing of the

Algemene Ouderdomswet The ''Algemene Ouderdomswet'' ('General Old Age pensions Act, abbreviated AOW) is a 1956 Dutch law that installed a state pension for the elderly. This law was a continuation of a 1947 temporary law. The old law was a proposal by Willem Drees, whi ...

. The minister of social security and health care even proposed to name the bill after Berger but he refused as he feared this would alienate its Christian supporters. On 21 September 1954 Berger left the lower house. On 20 March 1959 Berger returned to the lower house, he also was a member of the party leadership in this period. He was approached for the position of

parliamentary leader A parliamentary leader is a political title or a descriptive term used in various countries to designate the person leading a parliamentary group or caucus in a legislative body, whether it be a national or sub-national legislature. They are the ...

but refused the job. From on 1961 Berger represented the interest of the North Netherlands.

Frisia Frisia is a cross-border cultural region in Northwestern Europe. Stretching along the Wadden Sea, it encompasses the north of the Netherlands and parts of northwestern Germany. The region is traditionally inhabited by the Frisians, a West Ger ...

Groningen Groningen (; gos, Grunn or ) is the capital city and main municipality of Groningen province in the Netherlands. The ''capital of the north'', Groningen is the largest place as well as the economic and cultural centre of the northern part of t ...

and

Drenthe Drenthe () is a province of the Netherlands located in the northeastern part of the country. It is bordered by Overijssel to the south, Friesland to the west, Groningen to the north, and the German state of Lower Saxony to the east. As of Nov ...

On 3 July 1962 he became a member for the

states-provincial The provincial council (, PS), also known as the States Provincial, is the provincial parliament and legislative assembly in each of the provinces of the Netherlands. It is elected for each province simultaneously once every four years and has ...

, representing

, he was immediately made parliamentary leader. On 1 June 1965 Berger became mayor of Groningen. On 11 May 1971 he became a member of the lower house for the third and final time, this time for DS’70, permanently leaving on 1 April 1975. He died on 6 September 1978. Berger was married to Willy Maliepaard, this union produced two sons and a daughter.

Notes and references

{{DEFAULTSORT:Berger, Jan 1918 births 1978 deaths 20th-century Dutch politicians