Remembrance and Liberation Day; May 4th and 5th, 2011
Today,
may 4th is
Remembrance Day here in The Netherlands as the Dutch remember their dead,both military and civilian,of World War Two and all wars and missions afterwards.
May 4th is a solemn day as the dead will be remembered at the numerous war Memorials throughout the country.At 18.00PM till 21.00PM all flags will fly at halve mast everywhere.
HM The Queen and
TRH The Prince of Orange and
Princess Máxima will attend the National Remembrance Service at the Nieuwe Kerk,Amsterdam this evening,after which
HM and
The Prince of Orange will lay a wreath at the National Monument on the Dam Square shortly before 20.00PM.
At 20.00PM a two minute silence will be observed throughout the Country.
Then the Government,the Military and other officials as well as survivors of the camps and their representatives,the Roma gypsies,the gay community,and many many other organisations involved will lay a wreath.
HM and
TRH will then walk past the wreaths and flowers.
At the same time
HRH Princess Margriet and
Prof.
mr.
Pieter van Vollenhoven will attend the Remembrance Ceremony for the Dutch Military that were killed in all wars and conflicts since 1940 in service of the Kingdom at the
Military Field of Honour at the Grebbeberg in Rhenen,venue of fierce fighting in the very beginning of the Second World War where many Dutch military were killed in action.It was there that the great Queen Wilhelmina demanded to go and die with her boys and men,but was denied and taken to England to her frustration.
Tomorrow may 5th is
Liberation Day to remember the capitulation of the German Forces on Dutch soil,as well as the surrender of Japanese forces in the former Dutch East Indies,at Hotel De Wereld in Wageningen on that day in 1945.It is a truly festive day to be compared with Queensday celebrations nationwide.
HM The Queen will traditionally attend the Fifth of May Concert at the Amstel River,Amsterdam in the evening.
Prof.
mr.
Pieter van Vollenhoven and the PM will attedn the commemoration service at the John the Baptistchurch in Wageningen to honour the Liberation from and capitulation of German and Japanese forces here in The Netherlands and the Dutch East Indies,present day Indonesia.
There will be strict security measures in place during both days to avoid scenes like last year when hundreds panicked and many got wounded in the proces after a nut screamed during the two minutes silence at the Dam Square.Many of the wounded were then taken to the Royal Palace on the square to have medical aid.HM,already on her way home to The Hague,heard of the Palace being used as a first aid post,and immediatly requested her driver to turn and return to Amsterdam where she attended to and visited the wounded.A gesture enormously appreciated by all,but lets pray we can prevent this from happening this year.
A man started to scream during the 2 minutes of silence, something caused a noise (I think a falling barrier) and people started to scream and run away in panic. I heard some people were also screaming there was a bomb which caused even a bigger fear).
