After the signing of the capitulation at Wageningen, Prins Bernhard, Commander of Chief of the Domestic Armed Forces held the following speech for the liberated country: Fellow Countrymen! The hour of your liberation has come. The enemy has layed down the… (READ MORE)
My name is Clasina and I was 9 years old when my mother and I stood at the Dam. The Salvation Army was in front of the Palace, also the underground people. When I looked up to the other building… (READ MORE)
Krijn Taconis (Rotterdam, 1918 – Canada, 1979) was a Dutch photographer. He was the first Dutchman who became member of the Magnum-photo agency. Taconis made his first pictures during World War II, he made false documents for the resistance. He… (READ MORE)
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On May 7, 1945, a shooting incident in Amsterdam between armed German soldiers and the N.B.S. resulted in 22 civilian deaths and 125 injuries. Firing began with unknown shots at the Dam square. Major Overhoff of the N.B.S. played a key role in restoring order, risking his life to prevent further casualties.
* Gestel July 1, 1916 † Amsterdam May 7, 1945 Maria Nella van Hooff, correspondent, died on the consequences of bullet wounds on May 7 1945 at 03:00PM at the Dam, 28 years old. She was born in Gestel (now Eindhoven) as… (READ MORE)
* Amsterdam April 22 1915 † Amsterdam May 8 1945 Hendrina Louise Frank died in the night of May 7 to 8 1945 on the consequences of bullet wounds, caught during the shooting on the Dam. She was married with Cornelis Koper. Together they… (READ MORE)
In the television broadcast Na de Bevrijding (After the Liberation) of February 14 2014 with the title “Lost Youth”, there was a review of May 7 1945 at the Dam about the role of the scouting. The ‘Dunnewoldgroup’ was under the command of Scoutmaster B.O. van den… (READ MORE)
At the end of the war, Henk (*1940) was living in the Driehoekstraat, located in the “Jordaan” one of the typical Amsterdam living quarters, near to the Willemsstraat and at a 40 minutes walking distance from the Dam. On that… (READ MORE)
Selection of photo’s, made by J. W. Hofman, made before the shooting started: Arrest of german soldiers at the NieuweZijds Voorburgwal. After the shooting: At the Dam, corner Eggertstraat.
I had taken my three little brothers with me to the dam, which was only a few minutes away from our home on the corner of the Oude Hoogstraat en Kloveniersburgwal. At the time there was a small park in… (READ MORE)
Rika Overdijk was only 12 years old when she was killed on the Dam by bullets on May 7 at 3 pm. She was the only child of an electrician named Dirk Overdijk (1902-1977) and his wife Rimkien Ossel (born 1901). The family lived at Barentszstraat 32 on the third floor.
* Amsterdam October 11 1879 † Amsterdam May 7 1945 Willem died at age 65 on May 7, 1945 at 3 pm of shots that perforated his lungs. He was buried on May 11 at the “Nieuwe Ooster” cemetery. Willem… (READ MORE)
* Den Haag November 1925 † Amsterdam May 7 1945 Han was an only child, his parents were Adam Bernardus Hutjes (1898-1975) and Elisabeth Catharina Maria Verbeek (1897-1989). During Operation Market Garden the family fled from Arnhem and was registered by… (READ MORE)
Sent in by J.G. Salm to the Oud-Amsterdammer: februari 2014 I had just turned 3 and my mother wanted to go see the Canadians. My father didn’t feel like going. She went into town with an elderly neighbor who also… (READ MORE)
Canadian soldier Wilf Gildersleeve had been a radio signaler, starting in Sicily in 1943. During the liberation of Holland in 1945, he was a platoon commander in the Seaforth Highlanders. In 1945, Margriet Blaisse was a young woman living in… (READ MORE)
Aaltje’s parents were Arie Smorenberg and Maartje Blokker. Arie Smorenberg (1891-1955) was born in Alkmaar into a family of 10 children all born between 1888-1905.
The family lived for 35 years above the barbershop of Aaltje’s father at Kadijksplein 8.
* Amsterdam November 21 1892 † Amsterdam May 9 1945 Sophia Frederika Mathilda de Vries died, 52 years old, at May 9th 1945 at 11:15pm by bullet wounds. The documents indicate cause off death: ‘bullet wounds’ and lung embolism by a… (READ MORE)
Wim died at 15.15 hours after been shot, shortly before his 14th birthday. He was buried at the Noorderbegraafplaats, his grave is gone.
Belfeld February 2 1927 – Amsterdam May 7 1945 Frans Johannes Feller was only 18 years old. He died, after being shot at the Dam, in the Binnengasthuis, several hours later at 08:30pm. The death certificate mentioned bullet wounds and… (READ MORE)
* Amsterdam October 28 1928 † Amsterdam May 8 1945 Elisabeth de Boer’s medical certificate of death states that she died on 8 May 1945 at 10 am. Cause of death: Gunshot Wound to the Stomach, Fourteen Perforations of the Intestines…. (READ MORE)
* Amsterdam, January 9 1901 † Amsterdam, May 7 1945 Johannes Bobeldijk, heating stoker, died on May 7, 1945 at 4:00PM of a gunshot wound in the stomach and perforated intestines. He was the eldest son of diamond worker Johannes… (READ MORE)
Harlingen May 11 1928 – Amsterdam May 7 1945 Johannes Jan (Hans) Ooms,named after his father, was born on May 11 1928 in Harlingen. He is a son of Johannes Jan Ooms and Antonia Helena de Klerk. The family lived at… (READ MORE)
* Muiden December 18, 1898 † Amsterdam May 7, 1945 Pieter Hendrik Diekmeijer and Johanna Maria Wajon had five children. One of them was Pieter Hendrik Diekmeijer who got married in Amersfoort on April 2, 1931 to Margaretha van Noordt,… (READ MORE)
My father Louis Willemsen walked that day with my mother, Johanna Barendsma, through town, celebrating and met uncle Henk with his daughter (as far as I remember the so many times told story). Just a while later, he was shot in presence of his child, at the Dam.
* Landsmeer 2 June 1876 † Amsterdam 7 May 1945 Jan Goede was born in Landsmeer on June 2, 1876. He died, 68 years old, on May 7, 1945 on the Dam when German Kriegsmariners started shooting from the Groote Club into… (READ MORE)
The week before the liberation it was suddenly very quiet in our town Laren-Blaricum. The days before we heard constant gunshots, but it suddenly stopped from one day to the next. We understood that something was going on but what… (READ MORE)
From the beginning she was present, has experiences everything, all is engraved in her memories. “The Dam was filling up with people, party-time, liberation. The Germans had to go. Everybody was on the streets, calling and shouting. We called: ‘Away… (READ MORE)
* Amsterdam 18 September 1917 † Amsterdam 22 June 1945 Dien’s parents owned a bakery at Haarlemmerdijk 138 in Amsterdam. They had six children, three sons and three daughters, Dien was their eldest daughter. On October 13, 1943 she married Willem… (READ MORE)
* September 17 1877 † Amsterdam May 7 1945 Petrus Antonius Joseph van Dam was born in Gouda, September 17 1877 as a son of Dirk van Dam and Adriana Veerman. He married in 1901 with Johanna den Riet. In… (READ MORE)
* Amsterdam May 25 1936 † Amsterdam May 7 1945 Gerardus Bernardus (Gerrie) Cornelisse was born May 25 1936 as the youngest son of Jan Cornelisse and Catharina Wilhelmina (Catrien) Visser. He died shortly before his ninth birthday on May 7… (READ MORE)
* Zwolle 30 Juni 1896 † Amsterdam, may 8 1945 Willem, the son of Piet Cieraad and Gerritdiena Hermina Arends, was born in Zwolle on 30 June 1896. On 9 August 1923 he married the 21 year old Antje Smit… (READ MORE)
* March 16, 1905 Oosterhout † May 7 1945 Nol, a ground worker, son of Cornelis Hermanus Stroop and Antonia Jacoba Koreman, married Pieternella Marsman in Amsterdam on May 11, 1933. He died May 7, 1945 at 4 pm as… (READ MORE)
* Amsterdam August 22 1881 † Amsterdam May 7 1945 Johannes Wilhelmus Saelman was born Amsterdam August 22nd 1881 as one of eight children of Joseph Frederik Saelman and Johanna Maria Feijen. His profession was smith, just as his father… (READ MORE)
Willem van den Boogaard was member of the Domestic Armed Forces group B. They were on May 7 1945 on duty at fences on the Dam, when suddenly around 03:00pm a shooting started from the building of the Groote Club.
* Amsterdam, August 21 1900 † Amsterdam, May 8 1945 On April 5, 1931 Willem Bakker married Trijntje (Truus) Kint in Amsterdam. They did not have any children. On Willem’s death certificate the cause of death is listed as a gunshot… (READ MORE)
Mrs E.J.B.M. Sneeboer-Bense *1904 †1987 Mrs B. Sneeboer-Bense had heard that her husband, who was employed in Germany, was on his way home, she looked out for him in town. At the Dam she was present during the shooting. Unknown is… (READ MORE)
I think that we stood in the middle of the Dam waiting for the arrival of the Canadians. Suddenly the shooting started and everybody started to run, we in the direction of the Nieuwendijk. People fell and stumbled and the… (READ MORE)
The 14 years old Gita saw it happening for her own eyes, before she hides in a Roman-Catholic Church. Touching is her description in the letter to her niece: “it was awful.You see, thousands of people. Then suddenly the shooting… (READ MORE)
Ton Gräber was 19 years old on that day, and member of the scouting. Underneath his report of that day: According an appointment the members of our group gathered in the morning at the house of Co Bosman, while I went… (READ MORE)