The story
"The German ultimatum ordering the Dutch commander of Rotterdam to cease fire was delivered to him at 10:30 a.m. on May 14, 1940. At 1:22 p.m., German bombers set the whole inner city of Rotterdam ablaze, killing 30,000 of its inhabitants."* Aerial view of the ruins of Rotterdam. 208-PR-10L-3.
(* Note: This 30,000 which appears in this photos' caption is now seen as inaccurate. Historians believe the number who died was between 800-980. See The Oxford Companion to World War II, editors I.C.B. Dear and M.R.D. Foot, Oxford University Press, 1995, p. 968.)
There's more to discover
You have arrived at just one small part of Back to Normandy — a personal project dedicated to preserving stories, images, music and memories of the Second World War.
Every record is a doorway to a larger story. Explore Back to Normandy to discover more, or visit Fred Vogels' personal website to learn about the person and the projects behind it.