On May 4, we commemorate the victims of war violence throughout North Holland. Commemorations are taking place throughout the province, with wreath laying, silent processions and speeches.
For example, a silent procession is held in Schagen, accompanied by drums and the death march, towards the war monument that commemorates residents who died during the occupation years. Mayor Marjan van Kampen-Nouwen will address those present, after which the Schagens Harmonie will play the Taptoe signal.
Edambusters fly over West Friesland
In Enkhuizen the commemoration starts at the war graves at the city cemetery. The ceremony then moves to the monument ‘Shadow Correction May 1995’, where sixteen brave resistance fighters from Enkhuizen are commemorated. This year, just like in the rest of West Friesland, Edambusters will fly over the municipality.
The Edambusters consists of a group of Dutch private pilots who are committed to helping former Royal Airforce pilots. They have been conducting commemorative flights over memorial sites of fallen pilots in the Netherlands for more than forty years.
Commemoration at war memorial Velsen-Noord
Tata Steel Netherlands holds an annual commemoration at the war memorial on Wenckebachstraat in Velsen-Noord for the 69 employees who died in the Second World War. The steel company sabotaged German production, which led to heavy reprisals such as bombings and the raid of April 16, 1944. Each year one victim is central. This time it is Gerrit Jan van der Steen, who died in a bombing in Hamburg where he performed forced labor. His whole story is here to read.
The National Commemoration takes place on Dam Square in Amsterdam and starts in the Nieuwe Kerk with the May 4 lecture by AT5 editor-in-chief Judith Zilversmit. At 8 p.m. there will be a two-minute silence, followed by the laying of wreaths at the National Monument. The speaker is Lala Weiss, who is committed to Sinti and Roma in the Netherlands.
Text continues below the photo.
