Thousands of people went to Dam Square because they were so happy. They were dancing and having a party and waiting for the Canadian soldiers to arrive so they could finally be free. But there were still German Navy sailors inside a building called the Groote Club. They were really angry because they lost the war. Around 3 in the afternoon they just started shooting machine guns into the crowd for no reason.

The square was simply a large flat open area and thus there was no place to run or hide. I have seen some old photographs and it is heart breaking as you see people trying to conceal themselves behind skinny lamp posts or those little wooden street organs. Those things can’t stop a bullet but they had nothing else to use.

In the end 32 people were killed and more than 100 got really hurt. One girl was remembered a lot, her name was Tiny van der Ent, she was there to celebrate and then she died. The shooting only stopped when some officers forced them to have a ceasefire. If you go to the square today you can see names on the ground to remember the people who died. It simply demonstrates that despite the fact that a war is over the threat remains a bit longer. It’s really sad that a happy day turned into a massacre.