The Day the Sky Changed
In the quiet hours between the night of May 9 and the morning of May 10, 1940, the peace of Amsterdam was shattered. For the Frank family, living in their home at Merwedeplein, the sound of explosions was not distant thunder. It was the sound of their greatest fear becoming a reality. From their windows, they could see the bombings of Schiphol Airport, a stark and terrifying signal that the Netherlands was now under attack by the German army.
Panic spread like wildfire among the city’s Jewish residents. The hope of escape led some to a desperate flight to the sea, attempting to cross to Britain by boat—a journey very few completed. For others, the despair was so profound that they chose to end their own lives, feeling that all hope was lost.
After just five days of fierce fighting and the brutal bombing of Rotterdam, the Dutch army capitulated. On May 15, the surrender agreement was signed. The invasion was over.
But in the days that followed, an eerie and unsettling calm settled over the city. To a casual observer, life seemed to go on as usual. Anne and Margot were able to return to school on May 20, and the daily routines of the Frank family resumed. On the surface, nothing much seemed to have changed.
This period of deceptive normalcy was a cruel illusion. The German occupation was just beginning, and with it came the slow, steady erosion of rights and freedoms for Jewish people. The bombs and explosions of May 1940 were not just a single event; they were the first chords of a tragedy that would unfold over the next few years. The day the sky changed over Amsterdam was the beginning of a long and harrowing journey, one that would eventually lead the Frank family into hiding, forever changing their lives and the world’s history.
