Clasina Byers
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…
Kryn Taconis
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…
Protected: Report Adjudant Vos
On the 7th May 1945 I was at the Staff-Quarters of the Central District of the N.B.S. Warmoesstraat 155.- After the first shots had been fired on the Dam in…
Protected: M.S. Oxley
Subject:- Shooting Incident between Germans and N.B.S.. on May 1945, in Amsterdam. To:- HQ. 720 (P) C.A. Det. (P.S.) On the afternoon of the 7th May 19,45, in Amsterdam, shooting…
Maria Nella Jager-van Hooff – Mies
* 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…
Hendrina Louise Koper-Frank – Hendrina
* 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…
Scouts at the Dam
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.…
Henk de Brueijs
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…
J. W. Hofman
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.
John Kars
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…
Tonny van Renterghem
Tonny van Renterghem (Amsterdam, June 28, 1919- Sequim, WA, July 19, 2009) was a Dutch writer and researcher and technical advisor in the film industry, who during World War II…
Rika Overdijk – Rita
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.
Willem Theodorus Schermacher – Willem
* 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…
Petrus Hendricus Antonius Hutjes – Han
* 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…
J. G. Salm
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.…
Wilf and Margriet Gildersleeve
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.…
Aaltje Scheffer-Smorenberg – Aaltje
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.
Sophia Frederika Mathilda Vermeulen-de Vries – Sophia
* 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…
Willem de Leeuw – Wim
Wim died at 15.15 hours after been shot, shortly before his 14th birthday. He was buried at the Noorderbegraafplaats, his grave is gone.
Frans Johannes Feller – Frans
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…
Elisabeth de Boer – Bep
* 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:…
Johannes Bobeldijk – Joop
* 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…
Johannes Jan Ooms – Hans
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…
Pieter Hendrik Diekmeijer – Henk
* 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…
Hendrikus Willemsen – Henk
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.
Jan Goede – Jan
* 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…
Mr. G. van Hall
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…
Dolly van Emden-Smit
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…
Everdina Johanna Buddingh-van der Flier – Dien
* 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…
Petrus Antonius Joseph van Dam – Petrus
* 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…
Gerardus Bernardus Cornelisse – Gerrie
* 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.…
Willem Cieraad – Willem
* 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…
Popke Sjoerd Bakker – Popke
Popke Bakker was born on December 15, 1912 in Leeuwarden. He was married and had two children. His son Sjoerd who was born on July 20, 1943 was named after his executed uncle, is now a famous artist.
Arnoldus Petrus Stroop – Nol
* 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,…
P. Smit
Report Present, May 7 1945, I, commander Group C, Smit. P, had during our service on the Dam experienced the following facts and performed these actions. Several minutes before 03:00pm…
Johannes Wilhelmus Saelman – Jan
* 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…
Willem van den Boogaard – Wim
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.
Wilhelmus Petrus Bakker – Willem
* 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…
Mrs. Bense
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…
Saar Hack
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…