Another spirit of the times
Mayor De Reijke finds it difficult to assess the events of that time. She emphasizes that there was never official research into the facts. “At the same time if you look at what happened there with the gaze of today, then of course that is not possible. But I find it difficult to condemn something that took place in a different spirit of the times.”
Two years ago Pourchez asked the mayor to change the name of the square. In the end, a compromise was concluded: there would be an information board to put history in perspective. “I think it is very nice not to brush history away, but to put it in perspective and to enter into the dialogue,” says De Reijke.
For Pierre, the board means the recognition he was looking for for so long: “If people talk about it, then I am already happy. That is recognition of history. Not silent, not denying, but simply showing.”