Remembrance Day commemorations throughout the Netherlands
Today is Remembrance Day in the Netherlands - a day on which the atrocities of World War II are remembered and the victims are commemorated.
The National Commemoration will happen on Dam Square in Amsterdam on Friday evening. King Willem-Alexander, Queen Maxima and Prime Minister Mark Rutte will attend this commemoration, NU.nl reports.
The King and Queen will lay down the first wreath, on behalf of the entire Dutch population. Prime Minister Rutte, Minister Ank Bijleveld of Defense, State Secretary Paul Blokhuis of Public Health, and Ministers Guillfred Besaril, Eunice Eisden and Hasani Ellis of respectively Aruba, Curacao and Sint Maarten will lay down a wreath on behalf of the Council of Ministers.
Kim Putters, director of the Netherlands' social and cultural planning office SCP, will give a speech, followed by two minutes of silence. Afterwards Gytha te Nijenhuis, the winner of poetry competition Dichter bij 4 mei, will read a poem.
In addition to the National Commemoration, there are also commemorations in other places in the country on Friday.
Princes Margriet, Pieter van Vollenhoven and Prince Pieter-Christiaan will be attending the National Military Commemoration at the Military Field of Honor Grebbeberg in Rhenen. Other ceremonies will be held at the National Field of Honor in Loenen an the International Gay Monument in The Hague. A children's commemoration is happening in Madurodam.
Silent marches will be held on the Waalsdorpervlakte in The Hague, the National Monument Westerbork, and at former Camp Amersfoort. Deputy Prime Minister Hugo de Jonge will attend the latter.
For the first time, relatives of executed resistance fighters will be able to visit the place where the executions took place, the military grounds on Leusderheide, according to the newspaper.
