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NEDERLANDS FOTOMUSEUM BEDANKT:
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Photographers
Leijns, Wil F. (1884 - 1966)
On May 7 1945, two days after the German capitulation, everyone was waiting for Amsterdam to be liberated. The people of Amsterdam had flocked to Dam Square to celebrate. However, the only 'liberators' who managed to reach the capital that day were the members of a Canadian reconnaissance unit. In view of the tense atmosphere they decided to leave the city after driving once round the square. Suddenly, Germans who had been hiding in the 'Grote Club' opened machine-gun fire on the crowd. On May 7 1945, two days after the German capitulation, everyone was waiting for Amsterdam to be liberated. The people of Amsterdam had flocked to Dam Square to celebrate. However, the only 'liberators' who managed to reach the capital that day were the members of a Canadian reconnaissance unit. In view of the tense atmosphere they decided to leave the city after driving once round the square. Suddenly, Germans who had been hiding in the 'Grote Club' opened machine-gun fire on the crowd. Panic-stricken citizens sought cover behind lamp-posts and a barrel-organ. The death-toll was 19, and there were 117 casualties. During this dramatic event Willem Leijns was in his office on the fourth floor of the 'Industria' building on the corner of Rokin and Dam. He had set up his camera on a tripod in order to photograph the liberation. When the guns began firing, he pressed the button of his Leica twice. These two pictures and those taken by Bert Haanstra are the only record of the actual shooting. Marius Meyboom, Cas Oorthuys, Wiel van der Randen, Annabet Windig-Stam and Kryn Taconis photographed chiefly the aftermath. Leijns' five rolls of films recording the events of May 7 1945 and the later liberation celebrations are a small but spectacular item in the collection administered by the Netherlands Photo Archive. Search photo's of this photographer
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