..October 2016.. ..Rotterdam…
I received the sad news that Mr. Adriaan de Winter passed away earlier this year. Mr. de Winter was a Rotterdam fire bombing survivor I photographed during January 2015 for From Above.
As a 14 year old, Mr. de Winter learned about the harsh reality of war immediately. On the second day of the Nazi invasion of the Netherlands, his house was destroyed. Four days later on May 14th, 1940 the house his family was staying in was smashed during the great air raid of Rotterdam. For the second time his family lost everything and that was just the start of the war.
During the occupation, Mr. de Winter was a member of the resistance. He and his father risked their lives secretly radioing Nazi positions to the Allied forces during air raids. While everyone was hiding in cellars during Allied raids they were transmitting coded messages near windows with small hand set radios.
After being caught he was sent to an internment camp where he escaped while being transported by cattle car. He managed to walk through most of the country reaching the Allied lines in Belgium. He fought bravely along side Scottish Rangers as the Allies advanced closer to the Netherlands. At the end of the war he witnessed the V2 revenge bombings in Antwerp and had the grisly experience of clearing dead bodies after one scored a direct hit on a movie theater.
I consider myself lucky to have spent time with Mr. de Winter. He experienced more as a boy than most do in a lifetime. It was an honor to have known him.
Tags: Adriaan de Winter, From Above, Rotterdam