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Melted Sewing Machine

From the collection of Museum Rotterdam /
The War and Resistance Museum Rotterdam

h 26 cm x w 48 cm
1940

Early in the afternoon on 14 May 1940 the air-raid siren suddenly sounded. The people of Rotterdam rushed to take cover as German Heinkel bombers approached the city. Then all hell broke loose.

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After Rotterdam was bombed, the city was ablaze. The smoke clouds were visible from far and wide (Source: Image Bank WW2 – NIOD).
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After the bombing of Rotterdam, the residents of the Kruiskade went looking through the debris to see what they could salvage (Source: Netherlands Photo Museum).
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1940

Early in the afternoon on 14 May 1940 the air-raid siren suddenly sounded. The people of Rotterdam rushed to take cover as German Heinkel bombers approached the city. Then all hell broke loose. Within fifteen minutes more than 1,300 bombs destroyed the centre of Rotterdam. An uncontrollable fire raged. Around 800 people were killed and nearly 80,000 were left homeless. The Netherlands surrendered to the Germans. After the fire, in despair people sifted through the rubble to find survivors and personal belongings. The silent witnesses to that devastating bombing were burnt and contorted objects like this sewing machine.