Sources

A good website provides information, and that cannot be done without citing sources. As mentioned earlier under ‘About Dordrecht in de Oorlog’, this is a private collection and not a historical institution or museum. As a result, we depend on external sources. In a way, this is a luxury, because a great deal of information is already available. However, it also brings a certain responsibility: the moral duty to acknowledge the people and institutions who conducted research and made this information available. We do our best to give that recognition through the source citations we provide on this website. Below, several important sources will be listed that have been essential for the information on this website. These will also be mentioned on the various pages throughout the site.

Have we missed a source? Please let us know via the contactform . We will review it and add the source if appropriate. If you do not receive a reply, please check the spam folder of your email — sometimes the message ends up there.

Zuidfront-Holland1940

**“The first source to be mentioned here is the incredibly interesting website www.zuidfront-holland1940.nl . The website focuses on the developments during the May Days of 1940 on the Southern Front of the Fortress Holland. Dordrecht was a very important part of this Southern Front. The author, Mr. Allert Goossens, closely supported by Mr. Hugo van Dijk, has managed to create a highly detailed and accurate picture of the fighting on the Southern Front Holland. This did not come about easily — it is the result of many years of research, driven entirely by a passion for history. We are in regular contact with Mr. Goossens, who frequently provides us with information that Dordrecht in de Oorlog gratefully makes use of. It is a pleasant collaboration in which Zuidfront‑Holland1940 often has the first look at new photographs or documents, while Dordrecht in de Oorlog can contribute reliable contextual information. Zuidfront‑Holland1940 is essential for the information provided on nearly all May 1940 material you can find on Dordrecht in de Oorlog. Our gratitude is therefore considerable, and we wholeheartedly recommend this website to anyone interested in Dordrecht during the May Days of 1940. For the English reader, we recommend: www.waroverholland.nl

Zuidfront-Holland1940/Dordt

The second source we would like to mention is the likewise interesting website of Dordt Open Stad: http://zuidfront-holland1940.nl/dordt/ . The website is based on the research of the late Jan van der Vorm. His son, the now also sadly deceased Jens van der Vorm, handed this material over to the Zuidfront‑Holland1940 website in 2005. This information was placed on a kind of sister page, that of Dordt Open Stad. Before his passing, Mr. Jens van der Vorm organised the event ‘Dordt Open Stad’ several times, in which the German invasion of Dordrecht during the May Days of 1940 was reenacted. The scale of the event alone was a clear indication of his passion for the history of Dordrecht during the war. It is a great loss that the event disappeared from the world together with Jens. Fortunately, all the work of both Jan and Jens van der Vorm can still be viewed on the Dordt Open Stad website. The extensive photo archive is particularly interesting, but certainly also the personal stories of the people who experienced it themselves. With this website, we will make a modest attempt to continue that legacy.

Regional Archives Dordrecht - Imagebank

The image bank of the regional archive of Dordrecht Beeldbank Regionaal Archief Dordrecht contains an interesting collection of photographs of Dordrecht — not only from the war, but going much further back in time. The wartime photographs found there often provide valuable comparative material for this website. Photos from just before the war also offer an interesting impression of what Dordrecht must have looked like. Finally, the regional archive often provides useful information alongside the photographs. The image bank therefore represents an important piece of Dordrecht’s history.

The book “40 - 45 Dordrecht”

By Wim van Wijk. 

This book, created in cooperation with the Regional Archive of Dordrecht, is a photo book about Dordrecht during the Second World War. It is filled with many interesting photographs of the city. The photos are accompanied by information and are arranged chronologically in different chapters, starting with the mobilization and the preparations for a possible war, followed by the May Days of 1940 and the end of those five days of fighting. After that, the reader finds photographs of daily life during the occupation and how the Germans increasingly interfered in that daily life. The resistance is also covered, and of course the liberation. It is an interesting and educational book for anyone interested in the theme of Dordrecht in wartime. The book is in Dutch, contains 112 pages, and has the following ISBN: 9789462580374.

Bookseries : “Dordrecht 1939 - 1945”

**“The following thirteen booklets are part of an original series of four booklets, which has since been expanded to no fewer than fifteen volumes. All were created by the working group EXPO – Document 1940–1945 Dordrecht. These booklets are also photo booklets and could not have been produced without the private collection of Mr. K.P. Makkelie, who at the time possessed a large collection of wartime photographs of Dordrecht. The first booklet focuses mainly on the mobilization in Willemsdorp and the first days of the war in Dordrecht in May 1940. It is supplemented with personal stories, for example those of Mr. G.L. van der Hum and German paratrooper Hauptmann Walther Gericke. The second booklet focuses primarily on the war damage in Dordrecht, both from the fighting during the May Days and from the destruction caused by the Germans near the end of the war. Both booklets therefore form valuable sources of information. Volumes five through eight cover the Corps of Pontonniers and Torpedists. Volumes nine and ten deal with the German invasion. Volumes eleven and twelve tell the story of the war damage in Dordrecht. Volume thirteen concerns the war victims on the Island of Dordrecht and the residents of Dordrecht who were killed during the war. Volume fourteen focuses on the Dutch Internal Armed Forces, District 14. Volume fifteen covers Dordrecht as a garrison town.

Bookseries: “Opmars naar Rotterdam”

door E.H. Brongers

This book series tells the story of the German advance through the Netherlands, as the title already suggests, towards Rotterdam. The fighting in and around Dordrecht during May 1940 is also discussed extensively. These are new editions of books that have since become somewhat outdated. Here and there, the books contain some inaccurate representations of events. I therefore recommend that readers consult the books, and then compare the information with what can be found on the Zuidfront‑Holland1940 website. There you will encounter various corrections to the books.

• Opmars naar Rotterdam - De luchtlanding deel 1: ISBN 9789059112490
• Opmars naar Rotterdam - Van Maas tot Moerdijk deel 2: ISBN: 978905911299 
• Opmars naar Rotterdam - De laatste fase deel 3: ISBN: 9789059112689

Book: “Dordrecht, stad in oorlogstijd - herinneringen aan 40-45”

By Caty Groen and Saskia Lensink

“This interesting book is a collection of wartime stories told by residents of Dordrecht. They are personal accounts, remembered and described as the people of Dordrecht experienced them at the time. Because the book is based on memories that were written down only recently, it is not fully reliable as a scientific historical source. Nevertheless, it contains many fascinating stories, some of which include remarkable details about specific events. 

Dordrecht, stad in oorlogstijd ISBN: 9789082349791

Book: Verzet in en om Dordrecht (Resistance in and around Dordrecht)

door K. van Loon

This book was written shortly after the war by former resistance member K. van Loon. Despite the seriousness of the subject matter, it is written in an engaging and accessible style. The book reports on the resistance organisations that were active in Dordrecht and its surroundings during the war. It explains what kinds of organisations existed, what they did, and how they operated. Unfortunately, only the names of resistance members who were killed are included; the identities of those who actively participated in the resistance are kept secret. The book also received considerable criticism from fellow resistance member G.J. de Vries, who wrote a second book to correct several issues: De balans van Verzet in en om Dordrecht. As a historical source, it is therefore less suitable. Nevertheless, it remains a very interesting book, full of compelling stories that still contain useful information. ISBN: 9789077071014