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Alternative National Remembrance Day 4 May

The Netherlands

​The current official commemoration

On 4 May, the day that the German occupation of the Netherlands officially ended in 1945, the Netherlands commemorates the victims of the Second World War and later conflicts in Amsterdam. At 8pm, two minutes of silence are observed, the king and queen lay a wreath, the national anthem is played by a military band and, finally, four wreaths are laid by Dutch authorities. The commemoration centres five groups of war victims:

  • people who were captured and murdered because they resisted the German occupation;

  • the more than 100,000 Jews, Roma and Sinti who were persecuted and murdered in concentration and extermination camps;

  • civilians who lost their lives due to war violence, bombings, neglect, neglect, exhaustion, hunger, deprivation and scarcity;

  • all civilians who were killed or who died in Asia, as a result of resistance, internment, war violence, exhaustion, hunger and forced labour during and immediately after the Japanese occupation and - since 2022, after the state's apology for the colonial past- the subsequent colonial war;

  • all military personnel and all merchant navy personnel, who died in service of the Netherlands during the Second World War, in subsequent wars and during peace operations.

 

By choosing this form of commemoration, the Second World War and the colonial past of the Netherlands are given a central place. The state and its dignitaries play a prominent role.

 

In the midst of the seemingly hopeless actual situation of war and violence, many Dutch people feel the need to commemorate all victims of war violence, including the ones who were killed due to the actions or negligence of the Dutch state.​​​​​​​​

An alternative commemoration

To everyone who shares this feeling, we would like to offer the alternative of a more inclusive and contemporary commemoration ceremony on 4 May. A commemoration in which, in memory of the horrors of the Second World War and the colonial wars, we genuinely want to learn from the past. To acknowledge the responsibility of the Netherlands for the suffering in yesterday’s wars and the wars of today. And to show solidarity with the sorrow and pain of the victims and survivors of war, near and far:

  1. all people in the Netherlands who have fled from war, genocide, persecution or oppression or who are themselves victims or survivors of war, genocide, persecution or oppression;

  2. all people in the Netherlands who have family or loved ones who are currently suffering from war, genocide, persecution or oppression;

  3. all people in other countries who are suffering from war, genocide, persecution or oppression due to the actions or negligence of the Dutch state;

  4. all people in other countries who have died due to war, genocide, persecution or oppression due to the actions or negligence of the Dutch state.

 

In this alternative commemoration we like to give the stage to people.

 

In short:

  1. The commemoration is inclusive: we commemorate everyone who is a victim or survivor because of who they are;

  2. The commemoration recognizes victims then and now;

  3. The commemoration does not want to exclude anyone, all victims deserve a place;

  4. The commemoration gives the stage to individual people;

  5. Bring a flower as a symbol to commemorate;

  6. No flags.

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Committee Alternative National Remembrance Day 4 May

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About us

This initiative was born out of a sense of horror of the current genocide on the Palestinian people and the way the Dutch state chose to actively ignore human rights and international law in reaction to it. ​​

 

This initiative is initiated by civil servants and former diplomats. But it is as citizens and human beings that we would like to organize this commemoration, together with other citizens and human beings.

 

We feel connected by the need to make the national commemoration inclusive and to commemorate all victims of genocide, war, persecution and oppression. Because this is precisely what, according to us, was meant when we promised: ‘Never again’.

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