It's almost that time again. Every year during the National Remembrance Day on May 4, we commemorate the victims of the Second World War and of war situations and peace operations after that. At 20.00 p.m. it is quiet for two minutes throughout the Netherlands. Remembrance Day and Liberation Day will also be different this year than before the corona crisis, just like last year. Each municipality completes the commemoration in its own way. Anyone can add a digital flower to a war memorial again this year. You can decide for yourself at which monument you want to place a virtual flower. You can also leave a personal message here.
During the commemoration meeting in De Nieuwe Kerk in Amsterdam, writer Roxane van Iperen will deliver the May 4 speech. Soprano Laetitia Gerards will give a musical performance, accompanied by several members of the Metropole Orchestra. At the start of the memorial ceremony on Dam Square, the king and queen lay a wreath. Then follow the Tattoo, the two minutes of silence and the Wilhelmus. A young person will give a lecture on Dam Square, and André van Duin will also give a speech.
During the commemoration various wreaths and flowers are laid for the war victims. Just like last year, it is without an audience and only by invitation, according to the municipality of Amsterdam and the National Committee on 4 and 5 May. The commemoration program in De Nieuwe Kerk and the ceremony on Dam Square will be broadcast on television. May 5 is Liberation Day, this day we celebrate that we live in freedom in the Netherlands. We celebrate that in 1945 we were liberated from the German occupation in Europe and the Japanese occupation in Asia and that we have been free from oppression ever since.
May 5 is also meant to reflect on what freedom actually means and that freedom is very vulnerable. Especially now that we have been in the grip of the corona crisis for more than a year, we are increasingly realizing what freedom is. Where in previous years there was a party everywhere and old army vehicles drove through our country in parades, and historic army planes flew through the air, we will have to celebrate it again from home behind the tube this year. On May 5 there will be a liberation concert in Carré and can be followed live on television. The liberation festivals will be offering an online program on May 5.
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