Definition
Since
2011 the official text of the Memorandum for Remembrance Day on 4 May is as
follows:
- During the national commemoration of Remembrance Day we remember all Dutch victims – civilians and soldiers – who have been killed or murdered in the Kingdom of the Netherlands or anywhere else in the world in war situations or during peace-keeping operations since the outbreak of the Second World War.
It is
organized nationally by Nationaal Comité 4 en 5 mei, but local committees still
apply their own interpretation to the commemorations and also bear
responsibility for that interpretation.
Until
1961 the commemoration only related to the Dutch victims of World War II. Since
1961, the victims of other military conflicts (such as the Indonesian National
Revolution in Indonesia) and peacekeeping missions (such as in Lebanon or
Bosnia) are remembered on May 4 as well.
Traditionally,
the main ceremonies are observed in Amsterdam at the National Monument on Dam
Square. This ceremony is usually attended by members of the cabinet and the
royal family, military leaders, representatives of the resistance movement and
other social groups. At 20:00 two minutes of silence is observed throughout the
Netherlands. Public transport is stopped as well as all other traffic. Radio
and TV only broadcast the ceremonies from 19:00 until 20:30. Since 4 May 1994
flags, having hung at half-mast from 18:00, are then hoisted to the music of
the Wilhelmus, the Dutch national anthem. Since 2001 the new protocol says it
is allowed to let the flag hang at half-mast.
The main
commemorations in Amsterdam are broadcast by the public broadcasting company
NOS and there are ceremonies in other cities and places as well. Especially
notable are those at the Waalsdorpervlakte near The Hague where many Dutch
resistance fighters were executed during the war, and at the war cemetery Grebbeberg,
which are broadcast by the commercial broadcasting companies. In many towns,
before or after the two minutes of silence, people gather around a monument,
listen to speeches, and lay down flowers to remember the dead.
The next
day, on May 5, people celebrate the liberation of the nation from the German
occupation of 1940 to 1945.
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