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{{Campaignbox Western Front (World War II)}}
In 1940, [[Rotterdam]] was subjected to heavy [[aerial bombing of cities|aerial bombardment]] by the ''[[Luftwaffe]]'' during the [[Battle of the Netherlands|German invasion of the Netherlands]] during the [[Second World War]]. The objective was to support the German troops fighting in the city, break Dutch resistance and force the Dutch army to surrender. Bombing began at the outset of hostilities on 10 May and culminated with the destruction of the entire historic city centre on 14 May,<ref name="OfficialList">{{cite web |url=https://www.dutchnews.nl/news/2022/04/first-official-list-of-victims-of-rotterdam-bombing-published-after-82-years/ |title=First official list of victims of Rotterdam bombing published after 82 years |work=DutchNews.nl |date=12 April 2022 |access-date=12 April 2022 }}</ref> an event sometimes referred to as the '''Rotterdam Blitz'''. According to an official list published in 2022, at least 1,150 people were killed, with 711 deaths in the 14 May bombing alone,<ref name="OfficialList" /> and 85,000 more were left homeless.
The psychological and the physical success of the raid, from the German perspective, led the ''[[Oberkommando der Luftwaffe]]'' (OKL) to threaten to destroy the city of [[Utrecht]] if the Dutch command did not surrender. The Dutch surrendered in the late afternoon of 14 May and signed the capitulation early the next morning.{{sfn|Hooton|2007|p=52}}
==Prelude==
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==Battle for Rotterdam==
[[File:James Webb Vedute von Rotterdam.jpg|thumb|A painting of Rotterdam in 1895]]
The situation in Rotterdam on the morning of 13 May 1940 was a [[stalemate]] as it had been over the previous three days. Dutch garrison forces under [[P. W. Scharroo|Colonel P.W. Scharroo]] held the north bank of the [[Nieuwe Maas]] river, which runs through the city and prevented the Germans from crossing; German forces included airlanding and airborne forces of General [[Kurt Student]] and newly-arrived ground forces under [[Rudolf Schmidt|General Schmidt]], based on the [[German 9th Panzer Division|9th ''Panzer'' Division]] and the ''[[Leibstandarte Adolf Hitler]]'', a motorized [[Waffen SS|SS]] regiment. A portion of the 16th Air Landing Regiment that had landed outside the city had managed to fight their way into the city and capture key bridges, but they were soon surrounded and in danger of being overrun by Dutch attacks on their pocket. Outnumbered, with their numbers being reduced by casualties and ammunition running out, things were becoming desperate for the surrounded German paratroops.
A Dutch counterattack led by a [[Netherlands Marine Corps|Dutch marine]] company had failed to recapture the [[Willemsbrug]] traffic bridge,<ref>{{harvnb|Brongers|2004|loc=(ONR Part III), p. 83}}</ref>{{sfn|Amersfoort|2005|p=364}} the key crossing. Several efforts by the [[Royal Netherlands Air Force|Dutch Army Aviation Brigade]] to destroy the bridge also failed.<ref>{{harvnb|Brongers|2004|loc=(ONR Part I), pp. 242,243}}</ref>
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General Schmidt had planned a combined assault the next day, 14 May, using tanks of the 9th ''Panzer'' supported by [[flame thrower]]s, SS troops and [[military engineer|combat engineer]]s.<ref>{{harvnb|Brongers|2004|loc=(ONR Part III), pp. 204, 205}}</ref>{{sfn|Amersfoort|2005|p=367}}{{sfn|Pauw|2006|p=75}}{{sfn|Götzel|1980|p=145}} The airlanding troops were to make an [[amphibious warfare|amphibious]] crossing of the river upstream and then a flank attack through the [[Kralingen-Crooswijk|Kralingen]] district.{{sfn|Götzel|1980|p={{Page needed|date=September 2010}} }}<ref>Kriegstagebuch, KTB IR.16, 22.ID BA/MA</ref> The attack was to be preceded by artillery bombardment, while Gen. Schmidt had requested the support of the ''Luftwaffe'' in the form of a ''Gruppe'' (about 25 aircraft) of [[Junkers Ju 87]] dive-bombers, specifically for a precision raid.<ref>{{harvnb|Brongers|2004|loc=(ONR Part III), p. 201}}</ref>{{sfn|Amersfoort|2005|p=368}}{{sfn|Götzel|1980|pp=146, 147}}
Schmidt's request for air support reached the staff of ''Luftflotte'' 2 in Berlin. Instead of a precision
==
[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 141-1114, Rotterdam, Luftaufnahme von Bränden.jpg|thumb|Rotterdam's burning city centre after the bombing.]]
[[File:Het verwoeste Hang met de Steigersgracht en Sint-Laurenskerk 1940.jpg|thumb|Rotterdam's city centre after the bombing in 1940. The heavily damaged (now restored) ''[[Grote of Sint-Laurenskerk|St. Lawrence church]]'' stands out as the only remaining building that is reminiscent of Rotterdam's [[medieval architecture]]. (Agfacolor)]]
[[File:Bijenkorf Rotterdam 1930.jpg|thumb|Aerial view of the Coolsingel with the famous [[De Bijenkorf|Bijenkorf department store]] – architect [[Willem Dudok]] – partly destroyed during the bombing and demolished in 1960]]
The bombing was initially scheduled for 13 May, but
To the Mayor and aldermen and the Governmental Authorities of Rotterdam
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The continuing opposition to the offensive of German troops in the open city of Rotterdam forces me to take appropriate measures should this resistance not be ceased immediately. This may well result in the complete destruction of the city. I petition you - as a man of responsibility - to endeavour everything within your powers to prevent the town of having to bear such a huge price. As a token of agreement I request you to send us an authorised negotiator by return. Should within two hours after the hand-over of this ultimatum no official reply be received, I will be forced to execute the most extreme measures of destruction.
The commander of the German troops.</blockquote>
The commander of the German troops.</blockquote>The Mayor of Rotterdam, [[Pieter Oud]] consulted with his aldermen and concluded that there was simply not enough time to evacuate the city within the two hour period the Germans had set.<ref name=":0" /> Mayor Oud pleaded with Scharroo to surrender.<ref name=":0" /> However, Scharroo was not happy with the integrity of the letter as it had not been signed by anyone on the German side; therefore, he refused to seriously consider the surrender.<ref name=":0" /> He replied asking for further details:<ref name=":0" /><blockquote>To the commander of the German troops.▼
▲
I am in receipt of your letter. Subject letter has not been duly signed and did not mention name and rank of its originator. Prior to seriously considering your proposal, the letter should be duly signed and mention your name and rank.
Colonel, commander of the Dutch troops in Rotterdam, P.W. Scharroo</blockquote>
On receipt of Scharroo's letter, Schmidt sent a telegram to the 2nd ''[[Luftflotte]]'' (responsible for the air raid) stating:<ref name=":0" />
<blockquote>Airstrike postponed due to ongoing negotiations. Return to stand-by status.</blockquote>
The 2nd ''Luftflotte'' received the message at 12:42, but did not forward it to the bombers, who were en route. As Schmidt was handing over his second signed ultimatum to the Dutch negotiators, the group heard aircraft engines overhead.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book |last=Shirer |first=William L. |title=The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich |date=1960 |isbn=0-671-62420-2 |location=New York |page=867 |oclc=1286630}}</ref> Schmidt was shocked<ref name=":1" />.
It had been arranged that the Wehrmacht would shoot red flares into the sky if negotiations had begun,<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":2">{{Cite book |last=Hooton |first=E. R. |title=Phoenix triumphant : the rise and rise of the Luftwaffe |date=1996 |publisher=Arms and Armour Press |isbn=1-85409-331-2 |edition=New |pages=249 |oclc=60274266}}</ref><ref name=":3">{{Cite book |last=Macksey |first=Kenneth |title=Kesselring |date=2004 |publisher=Bellona |author2=Zenon Miernicki |isbn=83-11-09743-7 |location=Warsaw |chapter=The Nemesis of Incomprehension |oclc=749589540}}</ref> signalling the bombers to turn back. However, two groups of [[Heinkel He 111]] bombers were approaching the city: 36 from the south and 54 from the northeast, which was still held by the Dutch.<ref name=":0" /> The smaller bombing group in the south saw the flares and most of its planes turned back, but the larger group proceeded to destroy the city.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":2" /><ref name=":3" /> General Schmidt exclaimed, "My God, this is a catastrophe!"<ref name=":0" />
==Bombing==
In total, 1,150 50-kilogram (110 lb) and 158 250-kilogram (550 lb) bombs were dropped on the city, mainly in the residential areas of [[Kralingen]] and the medieval city centre. Most of them struck buildings, which immediately went up in flames. The fires across the city centre spread uncontrollably and, in the subsequent days, were aggravated as the wind grew stronger; they merged to become a [[firestorm]]. Reports stated that 900 people had reported been killed and {{convert|642|acre|km2}} of the city centre had been destroyed.<ref name="NGeo" /> 24,978 homes,<ref name="NGeo">{{cite journal |author1=Helen Hill Miller |title=Rotterdam - Reborn from Ruins |journal=[[National Geographic]] |date=October 1960 |volume=118 |issue=4 |pages=526–553}}</ref> 24 churches, 2,320 stores, 775 warehouses, and 62 schools were destroyed.
50 kilometres away in [[Utrecht]], Cornelia Fuykschot described the aftermath:
<blockquote>…a haze began to cover the western sky, and as the sun had passed the zenith and moved westward, it grew redder and redder, until it finally hung there as a glowing red ball in the midst of a dark grey sky. One could easily look at it with the naked eye now, it was more like a moon, except that the deep red began to turn almost brown. As the haze came nearer, it turned the glorious spring day into a gloomy mid-November darkness, and as we stood there gazing at the sky and not understanding what was happening, a flake of paper came down, and another one, and more…. Some were charred, around the edges, some had flowers on them like wallpaper, others print. Where were they from? Was there a fire somewhere? If so, it had to be a gigantic fire to blacken the sky like this.<ref name="Hunger">{{Cite book |last=Fuykschot |first=Cornelia |title=Hunger in Holland |publisher=Prometheus Publishing |date=2019 |isbn=9780879759872}}</ref>{{rp|159}}</blockquote>
Schmidt sent a conciliatory message to the Dutch commander General [[Henri Winkelman|Winkelman]], who surrendered shortly afterwards at [[Rijsoord]], a village southeast of Rotterdam. The school where the Dutch capitulated was later turned into a small museum.
== Responsibility ==
{{cleanup-section|reason=Reads like a persuasive essay citing primary sources. Should be a summary of how secondary sources allocate responsibility, and factual details.|date=April 2024}}
The telegraphed message from Schmidt to halt the bombers and put them on standby was confirmed as received by the 2nd ''Luftflotte'' at 12:42.<ref name=":0" /> The commander of ''Luftflotte 2'', Field Marshal [[Albert Kesselring]] was interviewed about the event during the [[Nuremberg Trials]] by [[Leon Goldensohn]], who recalled:<ref>{{Cite book |last=Goldensohn |first=Leon |title=The Nuremberg interviews : an American psychiatrist's conversations with the defendants and witnesses |date=2005 |publisher=Vintage Books |others=Robert Gellately |isbn=1-4000-3043-9 |edition=1st |location=New York |page=326 |oclc=69671719}}</ref>
<blockquote>Kesselring admitted that the conditions were such that an attack could have been called off, but still clung, rather unreasonably, to the idea that it was tactically indicated because he had been ordered to do so, and he was not a politician but a soldier</blockquote>
Kesselring stated that he had not known about the capitulation, but that is contradicted by the evidence that his headquarters had received the message at 12:42, roughly 40 minutes before the bombs started to fall. Yet, at Nuremberg, both Göring and Kesselring of the Luftwaffe defended the bombing on the grounds that Rotterdam was not an open city but one stoutly defended by the Dutch. That said, it would be unreasonable for the Germans to bomb a captured city as that would mean it was occupied by their own troops. The often omitted fact that German troops were holding out in a pocket within the city negates allied claims that it was an indiscriminate carpet bombing of the sort the Allies later employed themselves. <ref name=":1" /> In his memoirs, written while he was in prison for war crimes, Kesselring gave his account:<ref name=":4">{{Cite book |last=Kesselring |first=Albert |title=The memoirs of Field-Marshal Kesselring |date=2015 |isbn=978-0-7509-6434-0 |location=Stroud |page=56 |oclc=994630181}}</ref>
<blockquote>On the morning of 13 May, Student kept calling for bomber support against enemy strongpoints inside Rotterdam and the point of main effort at the bridges where the parachutists were held up. At 14:00 hours the sortie in question was flown, and its success finally led to the capitulation of Holland on 14 May 1940</blockquote>
[[Kurt Student|General Student]] had requested strikes against enemy strongpoints, not carpet-bombing of the city. Had the Germans indiscriminately carpet bombed the city, they would have endangered their own troops holding out around the bridges. <ref name=":4" /> Kesselring also states in his memoirs that he spent hours in heated argument with Göring on how the attacks were to be carried out, if at all.<ref name=":4" /> The arguments happened before the bombers took off and so that cannot be used as an excuse for why he did not get in contact with the bombers.
The fact was that he had already admitted at Nuremberg that he was for the attack since he wanted "to present a firm attitude and secure an immediate peace" or take "severe measures". Kesselring further states:<ref name=":4" />
<blockquote>As a result I repeatedly warned the bomber wing-commander to pay particular attention to the flares and signals displayed in the battle area and to keep in constant wireless contact with the Air-landing Group.</blockquote>
With that in mind, it is unlikely that the bombers would have reeled in their antennas until a few minutes before releasing their bombs. The argument that the antennas were reeled in is contradicted also by the fact that Kesselring quotes ''Oberst'' Lӓckner (the commander of the bombers) in his memoirs:<ref>{{Cite book |last=Kesselring |first=Albert |title=The memoirs of Field-Marshal Kesselring |date=2015 |isbn=978-0-7509-6434-0 |location=Stroud |pages=56–58 |oclc=994630181}}</ref>
<blockquote>Shortly before the take-off a message came through from Air command saying that Student had called upon Rotterdam to surrender and ordering us to attack an alternative target in case Rotterdam should have surrendered in the meantime (during the approach flight) ― ''Oberst'' Lӓckner</blockquote>
That invalidates the argument that the bombers had reeled in their antennas because the bombers had not taken off. That indicates that Kesselring must have made the decision to attack Rotterdam regardless of the negotiations.{{citation needed|date=January 2022}}
==Aftermath==
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W.G. Witteveen, director of the Port Authority, was instructed to draw up plans for the reconstruction within four days of the bombing,{{sfn|Runyon|1969}} and presented his plan to the city council in less than a month.<ref name="NGeo" />{{sfn|Meyer|1999|pp=309–328}} The first plan essentially used most of the old city's structure and layout, but it integrated them into a new plan with widened streets and sidewalks.{{sfn|Christiaanse|2012|pp=7–17}}{{sfn|Runyon|1969}} The largest and most controversial change in the layout was to move the main dike of the city alongside the riverbank, so as to protect the low-lying [[Waterstad]] area from flooding.{{sfn|Meyer|1999|pp=309–328}} That was met with criticism from the newly-formed Inner Circle of the Rotterdam Club, which promoted integrating the city with the Maas ([[Meuse]]), and claimed that the dike would create a marked separation from it.{{sfn|Meyer|1999|pp=309–328}}
A number of new or previously-incomplete projects, such as the [[Maastunnel]] and [[Rotterdamsche bank]], were to be completed in accordance with Witteveen's plan, and the projects kept the Dutch people in work during the German occupation of the city until all construction was halted in 1942.<ref name="NGeo" />{{sfn|Runyon|1969}} [[Herman van der Horst]]'s 1952 documentary ''[[Houen zo!]]'' presents a vision of some of the projects.{{sfn|Horst|1952}}
Meanwhile, Witteveen's successor [[Cornelius van Traa]] drafted a completely new reconstruction plan, the ''[[Basisplan voor de Herbouw van de Binnenstad]]'', which was adopted in 1946.{{sfn|Christiaanse|2012|pp=7–17}}{{sfn|Meyer|1999|pp=309–328}} Van Traa's plan was a much more radical rebuild, doing away with the old layout and replacing them with a collection of principles rather than such a rigid structural design.{{sfn|Runyon|1969}} The ''Basisplan'' placed a high emphasis on broad open spaces and promoted the river's special integration with the city through two significant elements: the [[Maas Boulevard]], which reimagined the
Because reconstruction work began so rapidly after the bombing, the city had
Around the same time, the city centre of Rotterdam had shifted north-west as a result of temporary shopping centres, which had been set up on the edge of the devastated city,{{sfn|Meyer|1999|pp=309–328}} and new shopping centre projects like the [[Lijnbaan]] were expressing the radical new concepts of the ''Basisplan'', through low, wide open streets set beside tall slab-like buildings.{{sfn|Taverne|1990|pp=145–155}} Rotterdam's urban form was more American than other Dutch cities, based on US plans,{{sfn|Taverne|1990|pp=145–155}} with a large collection of high-rise elements{{sfn|Christiaanse|2012|pp=7–17}} and the Maas boulevard and Window to the River functioning primarily as conduits for motor vehicles.{{sfn|Meyer|1999|pp=309–328}} In later years, Rotterdam architect [[Kees Christiaanse]] wrote:
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While urban reconstruction can be fraught with complexity and conflict,{{sfn|Diefendorf|1990|pp=1–16}} Rotterdam's status as a 'working' harbour city meant it did not receive the same resistance to rebuilding as a cultural or political centre (as [[Amsterdam]] or [[The Hague]]) might have.{{sfn|Runyon|1969}} However, there was still significant movement of people away from the city centre during Rotterdam's reconstruction to purpose-built neighbourhoods such as [[De Horsten]] and [[Hoogvliet]], which are now inhabited by mainly lower-income households.{{sfn|Kleinhans|Priemus|Engbersen|2007|pp=1069–1091}}
Today, van Traa's ''Basisplan'' has been almost completely replaced with newer projects. For example, The [[Maritime Museum Rotterdam|Maritime Museum]] blocks the Window to the River, and [[Piet Blom]]'s [[Cube Houses]] create another barrier between the city and the river, where
==See also==
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*{{Citation |last=Christiaanse |first=Kees |year=2012 |title=Rotterdam |location=Rotterdam |publisher=010 Publishers |isbn=978-90-6450-772-4}}
*{{Citation |last=DeBruhl |first=Marshall |year=2010 |title=Firestorm: Allied Airpower and the Destruction of Dresden |edition=unabridged |publisher=Random House Publishing Group |isbn=9780307769619 |pages=[https://books.google.com/books?id=oovAYO20OFgC&pg=PA90 90]–91}}
*{{Citation |last=Diefendorf |first=Jeffry M. |year=1990 |title=Rebuilding Europe's bombed cities
*{{Citation |last=Foot |first=M.R.D. |author-link= M. R. D. Foot |year=1990 |title=Holland at war against Hitler: Anglo-Dutch relations,
*{{Citation |last=Goossens |first=Allert |year=2011 |url=http://www.waroverholland.nl |title=Welcome |publisher= website of
*{{Citation |last=Götzel |first=H |year=1980 |title=Generaloberst Kurt Student und seine Fallschirmjäger |publisher=Podzun-Pallas Verlag|language=de |isbn=3-7909-0131-8 |oclc=7863989}}
*{{Citation| last=Grayling |first=A.C. |author-link=A. C. Grayling |year=2006 |title=Among the Dead Cities |publisher=[[Bloomsbury Publishing]] |location=London |isbn = 0-7475-7671-8}}
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*{{Citation |last=Horst |first=Herman van der |year=1952 |title=Houen zo! |language=nl }}
*?. Kriegstagebuch IR.16, May 1940{{Full citation needed|date=September 2009}}<!-- More information needed, author, published date of publication etc-->
*{{Citation |last1=Kleinhans |first1=R. |last2=Priemus |first2=H. |last3=Engbersen |first3=G. |year=2007 |title=Understanding Social Capital in Recently Restructured Urban Neighbourhoods: Two Case Studies in Rotterdam. |journal=Urban Studies |publisher=Urban Studies (Routledge) |volume=44 |number=5/6 |pages=1069–1091|doi=10.1080/00420980701256047 |bibcode=2007UrbSt..44.1069K }}
*{{Citation |last=Lackner |first=a.D. (Gen-Lt) |year=1954 |title=Bericht Einsatz des KG.54 auf Rotterdam |language=de |publisher=Bundesarchiv Militärarchiv |location=Freiburg}}
*{{Citation |last=Meyer |first=Han |year=1999 |title=City and port : urban planning as a cultural venture in London, Barcelona, New York, and Rotterdam : changing relations between public urban space and large-scale infrastructure. |location=Utrecht |publisher=International Books |isbn=90-5727-020-X}}
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*{{Citation |author=Nederlands Omroep Stichting (NOS) |date=10 December 2008 |title=Veel meer gewonden in mei 1940. |language=nl |url=http://www.nos.nl/nos/artikelen/2008/12/art000001C95AA93EFBCDEC.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090303161200/http://nos.nl/nos/artikelen/2008/12/art000001C95AA93EFBCDEC.html |archive-date=3 March 2009 }}
*{{Citation |last=Pauw |first=J.L. van der |year=2006 |title=Rotterdam in de Tweede Wereldoorlog |language=nl|publisher=Uitgeverij Boom |isbn=90-8506-160-1}}
*{{Citation |author=The Nizkor Project |chapter=Chapter IX: Aggression Against Belgium, The Netherlands and Luxembourg (Part 3 of 6)
*{{Citation |last=Runyon |first=David |year=1969 |title=An analysis of the rebuilding of Rotterdam after the bombing on May 14, 1940
*{{Citation |last1=Roep |first1=Thom |last2=Loerakker |first2=Co |year=1999 |title=Van Nul to Nu Deel 3
*{{Citation |last=Speidel |first=Wilhelm (General der Flieger) |year=1958 |title=The campaign in Western-Europe
*{{Citation |last=Taverne |first=E.R.M. |year=1990 |title=The Lijnbaan (Rotterdam): a Prototype of a Postwar Urban Shopping Centre, in Rebuilding Europe's bombed cities, J.M. Diefendorf, Editor. |location=Basingstoke |publisher=Macmillan |isbn=0-333-47443-0}}
*{{Citation |last=Taylor |first=Frederick |year=2005 |title=Dresden: Tuesday, 13 February 1945 |location=London |publisher=Bloomsbury |isbn=0-7475-7084-1 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/unset0000unse_b8e7 }}
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[[Category:1940 in the Netherlands]]
[[Category:
[[Category:Germany–Netherlands military relations]]
[[Category:
[[Category:World War II strategic bombing conducted by Germany|Rotterdam]]
[[Category:World War II strategic bombing of the Netherlands|Rotterdam]]
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