De School hield stand | Bombardement Bezuidenhout '45

School stood firm

Before the war, the Amalia van Solmsstraat ran from the Schenkkade to the Theresiastraat. It was a street that contained a lot of large mansions and a school.

The Roman Catholic school Liduina was build in 1920, on the same side as the Schenkkade. Initially it was a mixed school, but when the Bavo school was opened in the Queen Sophiestraat in 1922, the boys moved here. The school served as accommodation for soldiers during the mobilisation of 1939. A gas and bomb-proof shelter was built in the basement. The pupils were given lessons in other buildings until June 1940.

Most of the Amalia van Solmsstraat was completely destroyed during the bombing. Only the school and a few houses in the Louise de Colignystraat were spared. The houses opposite the Liduina school are post-war constructions. They were built on the foundations of the destroyed buildings and completed in July 1954.

The section of the street between the Juliana van Stolberglaan and the Theresiastraat was widened during the reconstruction and was renamed Koningin Marialaan.

Editor: Stichting 3 maart '45.

Comments form eyewitnesses

"the fire hoses could not get into the street"

'We fought the fires in the Amalia van Solmsstraat. It was a prestigious neighbourhood of beautiful houses with expensive furnishings. People from the Ministry and nobility were among its residents. There were fires at several locations. Hundreds of items of furniture were put in the street in the rain, which seriously hindered the fire fighting because the fire engines couldn't get into the street or access the hydrants. All those heavy cabinets were on the hydrant covers.'

Adapted from an eyewitness account by Mr Heijnsbergen, voluntary fireman from Zaandam, 4 March 1945.

The school stood firm

School stood firm

Comments form eyewitnesses