Aagje Bogaard lived on a farm in Nieuw-Vennep near Amsterdam with her father Johannes, her brothers Antheunius and Willem, and her niece Metje. Her brothers Johannes and Piet had farms diagonally opposite.
The large Calvinist family regarded Jews as the chosen people. From 1942 they hid persecuted Jews, including many children. Since many locals knew about it, the farm was known as the “Jewish farm.” When danger arose, all the Jews hurried to various emergency hiding places in basements and haystacks. Once the number of people sheltered there exceeded 70, holes in the ground were dug to house them. It was difficult to provide food for so many people. Aagje and Metje Bogaard obtained food and cooked for them all.
Dutch police officers and the German regular police searched the Bogaards’ farms on several occasions. During a raid in October 1943, more than 30 people were arrested and deported to Herzogenbusch concentration camp, including Johannes, Aagje, and Piet Bogaard. After her release, Aagje Bogaard struggled with the aftereffects of the imprisonment on her health for the rest of her life.