77 years of liberation: so many Zoetermeerders who were there are still alive

Celebrating freedom, that’s what Zoetermeer has been doing on May 5 as standard since 1945. So now 77 years old. Probably many of the Zoetermeerders who saw the liberation with their own eyes have now died. How many fellow citizens who are still alive experienced it?

About 1.2 million Dutch people who are still alive were there during the liberation. By far the largest number of those people were still children. About 27,000 Dutch people who are still alive were already adults at that time.

Liberation Day

Liberation Day is the national holiday on which the Netherlands celebrates the liberation of 1945 and the liberation of the then Dutch East Indies. In addition, on 5 May, the Netherlands will reflect on the value of freedom, democracy and human rights. The government chose this date because on that day the Germans capitulated.

Source: central government

It’s about these numbers in Zoetermeer

A total of 7,280 Zoetermeer residents who experienced the liberation in 1945 are still alive. Of this group of residents were 154 Zoetermeer residents already grown up during the liberation in 1945.

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The liberation of Zoetermeer

On May 10, 1945, Zoetermeer was liberated by the Canadians after the war had already ended for ten days. You can read and view what the liberation looked like in 1945 below:

liberated! This is what it looked like in Zoetermeer in 1945

It is not just that we celebrate Liberation Day on May 5th. Zoetermeer was liberated 74 years ago…

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