It was silent for two minutes, at 8 p.m. Monday evening, in living rooms, train compartments and at memorial sites. Take the Waalsdorpervlakte, one of the better-known memorial locations. Hundreds of people walked a silent procession through the dunes in The Hague, to the place where four bronze crosses commemorate the resistance fighters who were shot there during the Second World War.
Or take the Grebbeberg in Rhenen, heavily fought over during the war, now a military cemetery. “Fortunately it stayed dry,” wrote the Gelderlander about the National Military Remembrance Day. Those who could not find a spot around the memorial column and bell tower followed the ceremonies in the parking lot or from the surrounding woods.
It did not stay dry everywhere. In Arnhem they therefore went inside for the commemoration, to the Eusebius Church. In the Limburg municipality of Mook en Middelaar, people moved to a café near the military cemetery where the ceremony was actually going to take place. In Gulpen-Wittem, wrote The Limburgerthe resistance monument was exchanged for a monastery.
It was also quiet in The Hague, where around five hundred people, according to the ANP news agency, attended the alternative commemoration – where attention was also paid to the victims of contemporary war violence, such as the genocide in Gaza.
At the Gay Monument in Amsterdam, the commemoration of LGBTQ+ war victims was linked to oppression against queers today. The organizer of the Budapest Pride, Viktoria Radvanyi, gave a speech, which protest march was banned last year by Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán.
The commemoration on the Waalsdorpervlakte was preceded, as every year, by a silent procession.
Photo Lina Selg / ANP
In addition to the Dutch and Jewish victims, Belgian war victims were also commemorated on the Raadhuisplein in Heer, a village in Maastricht.
Photo Davy Rietbergen / ANP
Journalist Ahmed Abu Artema, who fled from Gaza, spoke at the alternative commemoration in The Hague.
Photo Marco de Swart / ANP
Princess Margriet and Pieter van Vollenhoven were present at the military commemoration on the Grebbeberg.
Photo Freek van den Bergh / ANP
Flags were flying at half-mast everywhere in the country on Monday evening, including at the Hofvijver in The Hague.
Photo Lina Selg / ANP
The Bourdon bell sounded at the commemoration on the Waalsdorpervlakte.
Photo Lina Selg / ANP
Wreaths were also laid at a memorial moment at a cemetery in Hogezand.
Photo Venema Media / ANP
A commemoration also took place at the Burgemeester Visserpark in Alphen aan den Rijn.
Photo Josh Walet / ANP
In Assen the mayor and children’s mayor laid a wreath.
Photo Marcel J. de Jong / ANP
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May 4 and 5
Two minutes of silence passed peacefully, several activists were removed from Dam Square just before Remembrance Day
