Bombardment Keizer Karelweg
Frans Jurrema, a civil engineer and architect, built a shelter around April 1939 in the back garden of his house at Keizer Karelweg 438 to protect against falling grenades and bomb fragments. At the beginning of the war, the Jurrema family went into the shelter almost every night. Later on, they didn't go anymore and not even that night when it really turned out to be necessary. On the night of 29 to 30 October 1941, 40 Handley Page Hampdens and 5 Avro Manchesters of the Royal Airforce (RAF) Bomber Command flew towards Schiphol. They had taken off from Lincolnshire and Nottinghamshire in England. Due to the low cloud, only 11 Hampdens and 1 Manchester were able to carry out an attack. A Hampden from 50 Squadron from Swinderby in Lincolnshire was responsible for the bomb drop on Keizer Karelweg in Amstelveen. The crew had been flying around searching for two hours and at half past two dropped six bombs (4 of 500 pounds and 2 of 250 pounds) on a group of buildings.
The double house at number 436 and 438 had been hit by the bombs and was almost completely destroyed. Four bombs had hit and near these buildings. One bomb had landed at the rear of building 436 and 438. Clearing the rubble took all night. Houses in the area were also damaged.
Frans Jurrema and his wife Elisabeth had died in the bombing, but the neighbours of number 436, Harmen and Cor Koolhaas, did not survive the disaster either. A few children of both couples were trapped in the rubble of the house, but they did survive the disaster. A German soldier was also killed.
Contemporaries thought that the German enclave near the Pauluskerk was the target or the radio station on the Wolfert van Borsselenweg. The RAF archives state that Schiphol was the target. The double house on Keizer Karelweg was restored from the end of 1941.
On October 30, 2021, a memorial tile was placed at Keizer Karelweg 436 in Amstelveen in memory of the victims.