New images show Rotterdam just after the bombings of the Second World War

New images have emerged of Rotterdam after the bombing of May 14, 1940.

“The rubble is still smoking, you can see the smoking remains, it must have been shortly after the bombing,” film archivist Bas Romeijn told the regional broadcaster. Rijnmond. Today he releases an 8mm film that he recently discovered.

“There is no work, you see people in their Sunday clothes, so I think it was recorded on a Sunday,” Romeijn continues. “What struck me most about this video is the atmosphere of disaster tourism on the one hand and the perplexity of how they move on the other. You see people walking around in amazement.”

Here are some excerpts from the video:

To break the resistance of the Dutch army, the Germans carried out a large-scale bombing of Rotterdam on May 14, 1940. In fifteen minutes, a large part of the historic city center was destroyed, 1150 people lost their lives and more than 80,000 people died. left homeless.

In the now uncovered video, the title cards indicate where the images were shot. For example, “Langs de Schie” is written on a map, after which the ruins can be seen along the water. In the midst of the ruins stands a motionless figure, shoulders hunched, arms at sides. Everything around him seems to stop.

A little further on, crowds of people walk through the devastation. The approximately five-minute video travels through various locations in the city center and shows the devastation.

Romeijn is not the first time he has encountered special cinematic images. He has been running the site for much longer Basroman films for which he has old films digitized. Then edit and edit pictures into new movies. He receives material from people who still have it, from bequests and searches the archives himself.

The special images from shortly after the bombing come from the estate of amateur filmmaker Joop Stolk (1918-1995):