In behalf of De Dam, 7 mei 1945 conversation with Jopie Kamstra-Schnater, at that time the girl next door of Jurrianus Lambertus Stad. Recently she read the article in the Noord-Hollands Dagblad of June 13th 2013 in which some names of possible victims, such as Jurrianus Lambertus Stad and she recognized him as her neighbour. Her son Kees informed us about this.
“We went together to the Dam because the English men should come. All over the place you could hear the message ‘they don’t come’. We stood in the center of the square when suddenly was shot from the Groote Club and everyone started running, mainly in direction of the buildings between Nieuwendijk and Damrak. The crowd was walking all over us and we walked over them, I lost a shoe and my purse. Janus protected me, bended over me and shouted ‘bend’, dramatically he said ‘I’m shot. “ Jopie ran just like all the others for her live, stumbling over other people, piles of people and became on the Damrak to a store where she hided, she lost Janus. Together with his parents, that evening she visited Janus him in the Hospital Binnengasthuis where he was with several shot wounds, such as in the lungs. Janus died that evening at 23.30 hours in the Binnengasthuis from his wounds, after he told Jopie that he was pleased for her that she was not hurt. Janus Stad was 26 years when he died. Jopie was nearly 21 years and the oldest daughter of the family of 13 children (a sister died young). She had 5 older brothers, a younger sister and 5 younger brothers. One of them also went with a friend to the Dam. The Schnater family lived Nieuwe Herengracht 211 4th floor. The Stad family lived Nieuwe Herengracht 211 3th floor, Janus (he was a concrete worker) lived there with his parents, three sisters and a brother, nobody of them is still alive. A brother of Jopie married in December 1946 with Janus oldest sister. Some time later, after the meeting with Jopie Kamstra-Schnater, we also got the following information by relatives of Jurriaan Stad: A sister of Janus, Bep, told here children that Janus was for four years hidden in Heerlen, until may 9, 1944. After that he was hidden at home. When he got the message that the war had ended, and the liberators where on their way to Amsterdam, he said: “Enough is enough, it is party time, i’m goiing to it“. with his dead as a sad ending! At june 22, 1945 Bep gave birth to a son, with the same name as here late brother.
July 2015: As a result of an article in the Zandvoortse Courant,the 100 year old Mrs.V.E.Castien-Goudriaan *1914 reacted. She lived with her husband and two young children on number 209. Herself wasn’t at the Dam, but she can remember that Janus Stad didn’t come home and that he was one of the victims. In July 1945 the family Castien went back to Zandvoort.
Nieuwe Herengracht 211 – 217. Left is nr 211.
photo: stadsarchief Amsterdam. Augustus 1th, 2013 Ludmilla van Santen, projectgroup Stichting Memorial 2015 voor Damslachtoffers 7 mei 1945
