Aerial View of the Ruins of Rotterdam

Aerial View of the Ruins of Rotterdam

Not listed

Rotterdam, German bombing, destruction, occupied Europe

This black-and-white aerial photograph shows the ruins of Rotterdam after the German bombing of the city in May 1940. The image documents the large-scale destruction of the city center after German forces attacked the Netherlands. For a website about propaganda in World War II Europe, this image is useful because destruction like Rotterdam became part of wartime messaging. Allied propaganda often used images of bombed cities and civilian suffering to show Nazi Germany as violent and aggressive, while Nazi propaganda tried to present its military victories as signs of power and control. The photograph helps viewers understand how real destruction in Europe could be used to shape public opinion during the war.

National Archives and Records Administration, Washington, D.C.

Office of War Information

1940

Photograph

Black-and-white aerial photograph

208-PR-10L-3

National Archives and Records Administration, Record Group 208: Records of the Office of War Information, 1926–1951; Series: Photographs Used in Publications, 1943–1945; Local Identifier: 208-PR-10L-3; National Archives Identifier: 535916.

https://www.archives.gov/research/military/ww2/photos

No linguistic content

World War II Photos, National Archives; Death & Destruction section

Rotterdam, Netherlands; World War II; German invasion of the Netherlands; May 1940

Public domain. The National Archives states that the selected World War II photographs are in the public domain and have no use restrictions.