1943 Amsterdam civil registry office bombing

[1][2] In 1943, a group of resistance members, led by sculptor Gerrit van der Veen and painter and author Willem Arondeus, meticulously planned to carry out a sabotage attack on the Amsterdam civil registry office, with the aim to destroy the records, without causing any loss of life.

The assault on the civil registry office at Plantage Kerklaan 36, a former concert hall directly adjacent to the main entrance of Artis zoo, took place on the night of 27 March 1943.

Disguised in police uniforms, the resistance group approached the security guards and told them that they had come to search the building for explosives.

[1][2][3][4] Once inside the building, the resistance members pulled open all the drawers, piled all of the documents onto the floor and doused them with benzene.

However the Germans found a notebook in his apartment listing many of the names, which led to the arrest of most of the resistance members who participated in the assault.

Gerrit van Veen managed to escape capture and continued his resistance activities until his 1944 arrest and execution following an assault on an Amsterdam prison.

[7] In 1946, a commemorative plaque designed by Willem Sandberg was affixed next to the front door of the building at Plantage Kerklaan 36, in remembrance of the assault and the resistance members who were executed for their role in it.

[8][9] The events were covered in the documentary Willem and Frieda: Defying the Nazis hosted by Stephen Fry and broadcast on Channel 4 in March 2023.