Haarlem Second World War

On May 10th, the Germans invaded the Netherlands, and with it the second world started. Two days later, on May 13th, Hitler expressed his concerns about the progress of the war and issued a Führerweisung. A strong message already put in use with the invasion of Poland. It could quickly crush the resistance. Therefore the Germans decided to bom Rotterdam on that same day. And make a threat to bomb other cities such as Utrecht, Amsterdam and even Haarlem should the Netherlands not capitulate. Luckily it did not come to that.. On May 15th the Netherlands capitulated and the first German troops moved into Haarlem.

Around two o’clock in the afternoon the first German soldiers appeared on the Grote Markt. Succeeding the early arrived Germans more followed that afternoon. Watched by a great a population. In the background of the photo you can see the platform of the city hall of Haarlem Second World War. Today there is a memorial plaque painted by Han Bijvoet in the hall, in memory of the ten people who were executed after the attack on Alois Bamberger (1943). Another attack on the policeman and NSB member Fake Krist

The first ‘Ortskommandant’, Major Freude, takes up residence in several rooms of restaurant Brinkman on the Grote Markt. Mayor De Vos van Steenwijk had called on his inhabitants to remain calm. The motorized troops and armored cars impressed the public as they watched from the steps of the town hall in Haarlem. These first steps of occupation by the Germans resulted in taking about seventy buildings in the city.

Adrianus Peperkamp made this image and is now part of the project ‘The Second World War in a hundred photos‘.
(Noord-Hollands Archief). Haarlem Second World War.