The Germans introduced all sorts of official documents to keep
the Dutch under control: work exemptions, bicycle permits, etc.
Forged papers were therefore indispensable for people in hiding
and resistance fighters. In 1941 and 1942 the first attempts
were made to forge identity cards. The person's name was
bleached out, and the 'J' for Jew was removed with a penknife
and pasted over. The techniques were improved slowly but surely.
Forgery organisations [PBC, Central Office for Identity Cards],
founded in 1942 by the Amsterdam sculptor Gerrit van der Veen,
became the country's largest forging organisation. At the end of
1943, the Falsificatie Centrale [FC, Central Office for Forged
Documents] of the National Organisation for Aid to Those in
Hiding became the second largest forgery organisation. Both
organisations produced hundreds of thousands of forged papers.
They even issued catalogues of forged stamps, available for
delivery. Every identity card has a fingerprint on the back of
the photograph on which a t