Jenny Jansen 1921-1992 In the famous photo by Wiel van der Randen you see the last woman in the row who seeks cover behind the lamppost. This is my mother! My mother lived with my father at Weteringschans 84 (3nd… (READ MORE)
Nicolaas Schoen 1930-2014 My grandfather Nicolaas Schoen was an eyewitness to the shooting on Dam Square when he was fourteen. This made a deep impression on him and has become an important part of our family story. His second wife… (READ MORE)
Harry Buisman *1945 We lived at Elandsgracht 87. My parents owned a bookstore there. When my mother heard from a customer that there was a party on Dam Square, she closed the shop, put me, a three-week-old baby, in the… (READ MORE)
Around noon on May 7, 1945, a number of photographers saw a heavy bomber flying over the Dam. This turned out to be a B-17 of the American Air Force. It may have taken part in the food drops at… (READ MORE)
My mother, Nel Lazeron was in the Dam Square during the shooting. She was 14 years old and had followed the crowds.
Norbert-Jan Nuij Amsterdam, May 7, 1945: a liberation day marked by war violence, with the shooting on and around Dam Square as the last major bloodbath on Dutch soil. Because an army of professional and amateur photographers was ready to… (READ MORE)
Norbert-Jan Nuij Thea and Els were studying in Leiden when war descended upon the Netherlands on May 10, 1940. Law student Thea (24 years old) was jolted awake early that morning by gunfire and saw a burning plane through her… (READ MORE)
I do recall German soldiers knocking on doors and in some cases dragging people out of their homes and putting them on trucks, and were not seen again.
Jan Hoesman 1880-1956 and Catharina Hoesman-Hubert 1883-1967 The married couple in this photo, made by Hans Sibbelee in de First Aid Department of the hospital ‘Binnengasthuis’ where the wounded were taken in. On the list that was drawn up in the hospital, and… (READ MORE)
Franciscus Emilius (Frans) Schaut 1927-2010 Frans Schaut was 17 years old and was one of the injured persons who were brought in to the first aid post of the Binnengasthuis on May 7 1945. *Frans Schaut was a friend of… (READ MORE)
Willem Frederik Klaasen *1930 I lived on the Willem de Zwijgerlaan, Amsterdam-West and was 15 years old. We had the permission from our mother to go to the Dam, the Canadians were coming.I thought about it that it was possible… (READ MORE)
Femmigje Appelo 1915-2001 Second-cousin Marjolein:My great-aunt, Fem Appelo, started her training for nurse in 1934 by the Valerius Clinic in Amsterdam. She had to interrupt her study because of tuberculosis, but in 1941 she continued her training. Once she told… (READ MORE)
Maria Jacoba Wijnberg-Koelman 1919-2010 Maria Jacoba (Rietje) Koelman married (in February 1945, at home, a minister was present, before the law they got married in August) with Salomon(Sambo) Wijnberg, 1922-2015, they lived in the Eemsstraat 72 and had 3 daughters…. (READ MORE)
Klasina Anna van Moosel-Hartog 1912-1982 Klasina married in 1937 with Willem Frederik van Moosel, 1911 – 2007, they had two children. The family lived at the Lindengracht, during the war at the Marnixkade and since January 1945 at the Buiksloterdijk…. (READ MORE)
Couple Oudhof-Wismeijer After reading the book Drama at the Dam I have the need for writing you. With tears in my eyes I read some parts, especially those of the 32 victims. It was a familiar situation because of the… (READ MORE)
Isa Timmers-Vliegenthart *1934 I was almost 11 years old and stood for hours at the Berlage bridge, waiting for the Canadians, together with my two girl friends, nearby my house.It buzzed from the rumors: ‘ they are already in Diemen!!’,… (READ MORE)
Henk Ras *1940 The end of the WarIt was May 7. We knew that the War was over and that the Canadians would reach Amsterdam in the afternoon. My father, mother and I went with hundred, thousands of people to… (READ MORE)
Jaap Beekhuis 1931-2017 As a boy of 14 years old I experienced a shooting. Monday May 7 1945, I stood at the Dam, with thousands of Amsterdammers, waiting for the arrival of the Canadians. The German Army surrendered official, so… (READ MORE)
J.G.J. ter Braak (1921-1995) Son Frank ter Braak: My mother M.S.I. ter Braak-Jentjens, 94 years old, has experienced World War II in Amsterdam and had heard about the tragedy at the Dam, but was not present. She met my father,… (READ MORE)
Irene van Lente *1939 I lived in the Raadhuisstraat, my father was the owner of a dairy under the gallery. Our two cousins from Arnhem stayed at our house when the shooting at the Dam took place. My cousins and… (READ MORE)
Amsterdam April 4 1871 – Amsterdam May 18 1945 Hendrik Karel, nickname Henk, was born in the parental house at the Baangracht, baptist Reformed, son of Hendrik Karel Smit (1843-1897) and Maria Magdalena Perotti(1844-1927). He married on January 17 1900 with Helena… (READ MORE)
Kathleen Sillem *1922 Kathleen Sillem *1922, married secretly in 1944 with Max Kohnstamm *1914-2010 (a.o. private secretary of Queen Wilhelmina from 1945-1948). On May 7 1945 they walked together from the Amstel 298hs to the Dam. For the radio program… (READ MORE)
Wilhelmina Gerardina Net (1921-2013) and Cornelis Jan Simpelaar(1918-1990) witnessed the shooting at the Dam. Their daughter Ilse wrote: I was touched by the article in the Telegraaf, this morning. My parents were both present at the shooting. My mother (at that time23… (READ MORE)
Hendrik Klaassen (1931-2016) On May 7 1945 my father was visiting his aunt, she lived at the Nieuwendijk, and wanted to go to the Dam. He stood in the neighbourhood of the SS-building when somebody shot from the building, also… (READ MORE)
Julienne Elisabeth Kretzschmar *1925 Astrid Biesheuvel, daugther in law: ‘January 13, I was visiting my mother in law. Meanwhile 91 years old, slightly demented, and trying to train her memory. The past is closer then the present. We talk a… (READ MORE)
Jan van Harlingen *1927 It’s a little bit what I can still remember. I was 18 years old and quite curious by nature. Our family used to live in the Wilhelminastraat in Amsterdam-West( in the Second World War, Westergasthuisstraat))… (READ MORE)
Leo Onclin *1938 I used to live in the Herenstraat 3 and I wasn’t allowed to go to the Dam. However, two words were of course interesting: ‘chocolate’ and ‘cigarettes’. I didn’t smoke but I do want the chocolate. So… (READ MORE)
Frits Bolte *1934 I was 11 years old, almost 12, with my parents we walked in the Paleisstraat; in the pram lay my brother who was then 9 months old. My father wanted to go to the Dam, my mother didn’t… (READ MORE)
Wiel van der Manden registered this reports a day after the shooting.This articel was published at May 8 1947, in the “Katholieke Illustratie” as part of his report of May 7 1945 May 8 1945 Liberation day Monday had… (READ MORE)
I’m almost 82 years old and I like to tell my story about my experience at the Dam on May 7 1945, I was then a boy of 12 years old. My eldest sister, who lived across us in the… (READ MORE)
Wiel van der Randen was during the shooting present at the Dam. He was standing, with others, at the roof of the vicarage of the Nieuwe Kerk. Before, during and after the shooting he took pictures, two rolls, with his… (READ MORE)
I was 11 years old when I went with my parents to the Dam. We stood in the middle when the shooting started. We came in an alley where I lost my mother. My father smashed a window from the… (READ MORE)
Witness from “Ons Amsterdam” by Tjerk de Boer, director of the Algemeen Handelsblad. “Monday morning arrived four Canadian tanks; they left later. The arrival of these tanks, was for the Domestic Armed Forces the sign for a more or less… (READ MORE)
Arie Johannes Veldhoen was born on November 1 1934 at the 1e Kostverlorenkade 9, son of Johanna Margaretha Bläser and Arie Veldhoen, also an artist.On May 7 1945, Aat, a ten year old boy, was also present at the Dam…. (READ MORE)
In 1968 Mr. P.K.Marquenie wrote a letter to L. de Jong.A part of the letter is taking-over from the work of De Jong, The Kingdom of the Netherlands in the Second World War. Part 10b, page 1422 and 1423. The… (READ MORE)
Gerard Wiegel *1926 Via Rob Kist we came in touch with his uncle, Gerard Wiegel, who, together with his sister, Rob’s mother Hendrika Maria Wiegel(1930-2011) were at the Dam on May 7 1945. Gerard Wiegel: We lived then in the… (READ MORE)
Dirk van Ginkel send us this story: My mother, Maaike Altink and her eldest sister Petronella Ruys-Altink (they are 17 years apart), went together with Pieter, the youngest son of her sister, to the Dam; people were celebrating, or that… (READ MORE)
My name is Joop van Beek. Born in 1929. Those days I was 15 years old.Why did I go the the Dam? The rumor was that the Canadians would come to the Dam. I went there on my own. I… (READ MORE)
Especially eyewitness reports can clarify by the reconstruction of specific events.My uncle Gerrit Keet (1922) lived during the war in Amsterdam. He was present by the shooting at the Dam.In 1991 he made the following report: On May 7 a… (READ MORE)
Cornelis Adrianus (Kees) Burger 1932-2016 Very interesting to read this all. My father was also wounded during the shooting and this has influenced his further life. He lived in the Indische Buurt at the Ambonplein.He died March 4 of this… (READ MORE)