Remembrance and Liberation Day: May 4 and 5, 2004-2023


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By exception Flags are at half mast today all day instead of the usual from 18.00PM till after 20.00PM.

Remembrance Day 2020 is like no Remembrance Day before,or,hopefully,will be after.

Tonight will only see TM The King and Queen,PM Mark Rutte,the mayor of Amsterdam Femke Halsema
and the Chair of the 40 45 Committee Gerdi Verbeet on an empty Dam Square,Amsterdam.

HM The King will speech on the Dam Square.All in all I think it `comes in` even more then in other years,
at least that is what I hope,awareness,not just for today only.A broader awareness of what is what and why
and how we got where we are today and act accordingly.
 
So many events were planned for the 75th anniversary of VE Day. We usually have a Bank Holiday on the first Monday in May (I know most countries always have one on May 1st), but this year it's been moved to May 8th. We'll all have to mark the event at home.


Strange to see Dam Square so empty. I stayed at a hotel very close to there, a few years ago.
 
It is noteworthy that the king not only speeched at the Remembrance at the Dam (which he normally doesn't) but also that he included the following phrase:

"Medemensen voelden zich in de steek gelaten, onvoldoende gehoord, onvoldoende gesteund, al was het maar met woorden. Ook vanuit Londen, ook door mijn overgrootmoeder, toch standvastig en fel in haar verzet. Het is iets dat me niet loslaat."
Click to expand...

Translated: "Fellow men felt let down, insufficiently hear, insufficiently supported, if only with words. Also from London, also by my great-grandmother, yet steadfast and fierce in her resistance. It's something I cant let go of."

This phrase most likely refers to queen Wilhelmina hardly ever touching upon the persecution of the Jews in WWII and never explicitly condemning it - while doing regular radio speeches during the war.


This comes less than 2 months after the public apologies by the king in Indonesia. I guess him being a historian plays off and apparently the current PM also let's him do so (unlike his mother who also wanted to offer apologies but wasn't allowed to during her state visit to Indonesia).
 
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What an impressive ceremony. An empty Dam square is quite special in general but today even more so. The King's speech was very good and frank, perhaps the best one he ever held. His words about his great-grandmother were surprising to me and remarkable, esp. coming from the king himself. But his general warning about 'looking the other way' seems very relevant today & seems to have struck a cord with many. Esp. as we discovered last week that anti-semitism is rampant in one of the Dutch political parties.

In the Volkskrant - not usually the biggest fans of the monarchy - Sheila Sitalsing called it 'perhaps the bravest words of his public life'. Algemeen Dagblad and the Telegraaf called the speech 'historic'. Zihni Özdil of VN and the NRC calls the speech brave and unique.

Although his great-grandmother's silence should be seen in the context of that day and age -she was hardly alone in her silence - it does feel right to look back now and say it was not the right thing to do. I am sure some of the survivors & their children will have greatly appreciated the King's words. Also in The Hague there is much praise for the King. The leader of the Labour party (in opposition), even calls the speech 'breath taking'.

In his speech the King referred to remarks by the late Jules Schelvis, one of the last Dutch survivors of Sobibor. SBS interviewed his daughter Marianne who was touched by the King's words and she called it 'a very beautiful and wonderful tribute to my father'. The King's remarks in his speech came as a surprise to her.
 
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Somebody said:
It is noteworthy that the king not only speeched at the Remembrance at the Dam (which he normally doesn't) but also that he included the following phrase:

"Medemensen voelden zich in de steek gelaten, onvoldoende gehoord, onvoldoende gesteund, al was het maar met woorden. Ook vanuit Londen, ook door mijn overgrootmoeder, toch standvastig en fel in haar verzet. Het is iets dat me niet loslaat."
Click to expand...

Translated: "Fellow men felt let down, insufficiently hear, insufficiently supported, if only with words. Also from London, also by my great-grandmother, yet steadfast and fierce in her resistance. It's something I cant let go of."

This phrase most likely refers to queen Wilhelmina hardly ever touching upon the persecution of the Jews in WWII and never explicitly condemning it - while doing regular radio speeches during the war.


This comes less than 2 months after the public apologies by the king in Indonesia. I guess him being a historian plays off and apparently the current PM also let's him do so (unlike his mother who also wanted to offer apologies but wasn't allowed to during her state visit to Indonesia).
Click to expand...

Thank you for bringing that interesting comment to attention and explaining its meaning (and Marengo's explanation of the similar comments in the thread for the Indonesia state visit was very helpful as well). So in your judgment, the initiative for these groundbreaking statements began with the king rather than the government?
 
Thank you for posting this. Very sombre.

I remember reading a book about Audrey Hepburn & her experiences as a girl during the occupation & the hungry winter of 1944/1945.

The comments by the king are interesting.
 
The almost empty Dam Square was very much a striking image.
 
Tatiana Maria said:
Thank you for bringing that interesting comment to attention and explaining its meaning (and Marengo's explanation of the similar comments in the thread for the Indonesia state visit was very helpful as well). So in your judgment, the initiative for these groundbreaking statements began with the king rather than the government?
Click to expand...

The King and the Prime Minister not only share the same age, they are both Historians as well and have family closely linked to WWII.

The father of the King was enforced into the Wehrmacht and sent to Italy to resist the second invasion of the Allied Powers in Western Europe. On his tenth the young Claus was enlisted in the Foreign Hitlerjugend (he lived with his parents at the colonial plantation in East-Africa). He was - in the best aristocrat tradition- sent to a boarding school: the Baltenschule in Misdroy (Vorpommern). Claus was enlisted into the Luftabwehr (Air Defence), then in the Reichsarbeitsdienst (compulsory auxiliary service) before the Fahnenjunker (Officer Aspirant) Claus von Amsberg was enlisted in the Totenkopf Panzer Division, was one of the 145.000 Germans made Prisoner of War at the Italian Front.

The father of the Prime Minister was a banker in Batavia (now Jakarta), was Reserve Lieutenant, was mobilised in 1941. When Japan invaded the Netherlands East-Indies, Lieutenant Rutte was made Prisoner of War in 1942. His wife and three children were captured in a concentration camp. In 1945 his wife died in the camp. She is still buried at the Netherlands Cemetery in Bandung, Indonesia.

Lieutenant Rutte returned to the Netherlands. He married the younger sister of his late wife. From this second marriage, his son Mark Rutte was born in 1967. The same year as Willem-Alexander was born.

Therr is a chemistry between King and Prime Minister, which translates in a totally relaxed but respectful relationship between the two.

Picture: the King signs a Royal Decree, the Prime Minister waits for his contresigné.
https://www.koninklijkhuis.nl/binar.../beediging-nieuw-kabinet/ondertekening-kb.jpg
 
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Tatiana Maria said:
Thank you for bringing that interesting comment to attention and explaining its meaning (and Marengo's explanation of the similar comments in the thread for the Indonesia state visit was very helpful as well). So in your judgment, the initiative for these groundbreaking statements began with the king rather than the government?
Click to expand...

For this mention of 'his great-grandmother' today at the Dam, I am quite sure it was the king himself. I cannot imagine the government making this suggestion; apparently, the king recently spoke to several survivors in Israel (during his visit to commemorate the Holocaust) who (again) shared their pain of not being recognized by queen Wilhelmina. So, that might have contributed to his decision to open up today (next to it being 75 years and the first time he was given this opportunity at this significant day of the year).

For the apologies in Indonesia it could have been either; the government surely knew that (former) queen Beatrix wanted to publicly apologize but wasn't permitted at that time; so either party could have brought that up in preparations for the state visit.
 
The Remembrance on the fourth of May is impressive every year, but even more so this year. To see Dam-square nearly completely empty is unique and so terribly sad.
The survivors of the war deserved this 75th aniversary and now they haven't gotten it.
The Kings speech was excellent. It really sticked with me.
 
Princess Margriet visited the photo exhibition "The Faces of Groesbeek" at the Canadian War Cemetery in Groesbeek this afternoon, May 3:


** ppe gallery **
 
King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima arrive at the Palace on Dam Square for the National Remembrance Day.

https://www.anpfoto.nl//search.pp?eventid=6027613

https://www.rexfeatures.com/set/11888928

Short Video

https://twitter.com/x/status/1389615718212194306

Princess Margriet, Prof. Pieter van Vollenhoven and Prince Pieter-Christiaan attend the National Military Remembrance Day at the Grebbeberg Military Field of Honor in Rhenen. Professional soldiers and conscripts are commemorated during this commemoration

https://twitter.com/x/status/1389676454858870789

https://www.anpfoto.nl/search.pp?eventid=6027616

LIVE

 
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Its always such a dignified and solemn event.
 
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iceflower said:
Princess Margriet visited the photo exhibition "The Faces of Groesbeek" at the Canadian War Cemetery in Groesbeek this afternoon, May 3:


** ppe gallery **
Click to expand...

Everything she does with/for Canada always makes me want to cry a little bit. :dutchflag::canflag:
 
Very well executed. I really liked how children or grandchildren of those who were there to lay a wreath (because of Covid it was done by Sea Cadets and Scouts) explained a little bit about who they were and how they were related to the group that the wreath represented. Also, the nod from the queen to all of them at the end (and at times in between) was good to see; very important recognition.

And the king, prime minister and chair of the first chamber (senate) must be rather cold; 10 degrees and only wearing your suit... At least the ladies wore an overcoat. It would have made sense if they had done so as well.
 
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It was well done indeed though I am looking forward to seeing the Dam square packed with people again.

I believe it was the last year for Gerdi Verbeet, the chair of the 4-5 may comittee. A pity to see her go.
 
The two-minute-silence is more impressive with a full Dam-square.
I watched the Remembrance with my two girls for the second year now. They are 8 and 10. They are fascinated with the short stories that are told each year.
André van Duins speech was very good.
 
Marengo said:
It was well done indeed though I am looking forward to seeing the Dam square packed with people again.

I believe it was the last year for Gerdi Verbeet, the chair of the 4-5 may comittee. A pity to see her go.
Click to expand...

I hope for the first too,allthough an empty Dam Square was just as impressive to me I must say.

Yes,very sorry to see Gerdi Verbeet go.I hope mr Veen will be appointed now.
 
Princess Margriet attended a commemoration at the National Merchant Marine Monument 'De Boeg' in Rotterdam this morning, May 4:


** Pic ** gtresnews gallery ** rex gallery ** tt.se gallery ** anp gallery **


Later today Princess Margriet, Prof. Pieter van Vollenhoven and Prince Pieter-Christiaan attended the National Military Remembrance Day at the Grebbeberg Military Field of Honor in Rhenen:


** Pic 1 ** Pic 2 ** Pic 3 ** rex gallery ** anp gallery ** legion media gallery **


And King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima at the ceremony at Dam Square:


** ppe gallery ** legion media gallery **
 
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When will the Princess of Orange start attending?
 
An Ard Ri said:
When will the Princess of Orange start attending?
Click to expand...

Her father was a stand-in for the ill Prince Claus in1985 and the years after. The situations are not comparable as Queen Máxima was there.

The National Remembrance on Dam Square finds place since 1961. Also then it were only the Queen and the Prince.
 
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An Ard Ri said:
When will the Princess of Orange start attending?
Click to expand...

If,then after her first official attendance of Prinsjesdag this year.I hope.


And,next year,together with her sister Alexia who will turn 18 in june next year....Prinsjesdag I mean
 
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