Commemorating and celebrating the end of WW2 in The Netherlands: 75 years of freedom

[Hanno Spoelstra]

May 4th is our national commemoration of Remembrance Day. On that day the Netherlands commemorates its victims of war.

On 5 May, the Netherlands celebrates the day it was liberated.

This 75th anniversary year is completely different from the previous ones, for obvious reasons.


Yesterday must have been the most exeptional Remembrance Day since 1945. Our King and Queen, the Prime Minister, the Mayor of Amsterdam and the President The National Committee for 4 and 5 May were the only dignitaries present in Amsterdam to lay wreaths at our National Monument. In other years, the Dam square and the streets would be lined with tens of thousands of people.

Still, there was a full ceremony to pay our respects to those we commemorate, and the King held a speech (which was a first at this commemoration).

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Source: https://www.4en5mei.nl/english


I leave you with some figures to make you think ...

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