The Bijlmer disaster is being commemorated for the thirtieth time tonight. On October 4, 1992, an Israeli cargo plane crashed on the Groeneveen and Klein-Kruitberg flats in Zuidoost. 43 people died, including many small children. 31 years after the Bijlmer disaster, the sadness and trauma in the neighborhood is still enormous.
The Growing Monument, the place where the commemoration takes place, is already colored by the first flowers that have been laid. Several people have already gathered under ‘the tree that saw everything’ during the morning. Tine Bakker, member of the Bijlmermeer Air Disaster Commemoration Committee, also reports in the morning. She is busy with soapy water. “I just need to make all the benches dust-free, so to speak,” she indicates.
New Committee
This year the commemoration is being organized for the first time by this committee, consisting of involved local residents. Previously, it was the Stichting Beheer Het Groeiend Monument that was responsible, but the baton has been passed on this year.
The new committee hopes for a large turnout tonight and to offer a place for everyone who needs to reflect on the disaster. “First of all, the heavy officialdom is gone,” Bakker explains. “So no more wreath laying of the various parties and countries, etc. More people have also been invited who were never heard and stayed in the background, but they too have a story. Also the people who helped at the time, but never came forward came.”
A man lays a bunch of flowers during the day and takes a moment for himself at the monument. “I was there myself,” he explains his arrival. “I lived further away, the Bijlmer is a village. You come to school, you see empty places.” He experienced this impactful event as a teenager and has carried it with him ever since. “It’s something you take with you and think about. It could have fallen on my head, so yes.”
Lasting importance
A group led by Bims Tourguides is also reflecting on the disaster. The monument is always part of the route, but today it is extra stressful. The disaster has also always played a role for 31-year-old Vesla Braafheid, who leads the tour. “I went to school with children who experienced it,” she says. “I just said that I come back here with people who have never come back here and then come here for the first time during the tour and get very emotional about it so, it’s not done yet. It’s something that will last.”
Tine Bakker also believes that the need and necessity for commemorating the disaster is still there, even after 31 years. “Also because it is still an issue in politics,” she says. “And because it has had such an impact on this entire community that everyone is thinking about it. There is no other way. October 4 is the Bijlmer disaster, that is no longer animal day, that is the Bijlmer disaster.”
The commemoration of the Bijlmer air disaster starts today at 5:30 PM and lasts until 7:00 PM. Tonight, a documentary about the disaster will be broadcast on AT5 at 8 p.m.