The Power of Resilience: Survivors of the Volendam Blaze

On January 1st, 2001, shortly after midnight, a fire broke out in cafe De Hemel (Heven cafe) in Volendam, where several hundred young people were celebrating New Year's Eve. The highly inflammable Christmas decorations caught fire and in no time the cafe packed with revellers was transformed into a living hell. Some sixty young people suffered severe burns. In the ensuing panic, several of them lost their lives, either being trampled to death or suffocated, or as a result of fatal burns. This total would ultimately rise to forty. Hundreds of others were injured, many severely. Young people were disfigured for life and became disabled as a result of the terrible burns over the whole of their bodies.In 2003 photographer Suzan van de Roemer made portraits of the fire victims. Without a trace of sensationalism, just as they were. She also talked with them about their hopes for the future. The exhibition of this work in the Melweg Galarie in Amsterdam in January 2004 left an indelible impression on both those portrayed and on the visitors.In 2010, seven years later and ten years after the fire, she photographed the group again. The youths have now become young adults and have demonstrated more resilience than has been expected.