NL residents still support Remembrance, Liberation Day

A large majority of Netherlands residents still think it is important to commemorate National Remembrance Day on May 4 and Liberation Day a day later. The National Committee for 4 and 5 May reported this based on the National Freedom Survey 2022. Of the people who completed the survey after Russia invaded Ukraine, over six in ten are most concerned about the war.

Netherlands residents consider May 4 and 5 particularly important because of the sense of community and because they consider it essential to reflect on the people who died for freedom. Another factor is the importance of realizing "that something like the Second World War should never happen again," said the Committee.

Support for May 4 is virtually unaffected, with 83 percent saying they find the National Commemoration important or very important. That was 85 percent last year. Support for LIberation Day decreased slightly from 79 percent last year to 75 percent this year.

The Committee also commissioned research into the feelings that Dutch history evokes among Netherlands residents. It showed that about one in five people feels "gratitude and pride." "People feel grateful for the liberation, the liberators, and for being able to live in the Netherlands," the Committee said. Netherlands residents are often proud that their "little country" was "big" in certain areas and then think of, for example, the Golden Age and the battle against water.

One in ten respondents indicated that the Netherlands' past makes them feel shame, often citing the colonial era and the slavery history. In this, the researchers see "significant differences" between population groups. Netherlands residents of Indonesian descent most often feel shame about the country's past. People of Antillean or Surinamese descent more often feel anger.

The National Freedom Survey is an annual survey of public support for commemoration and celebration in the Netherlands. Research agency Centerdata carried out this research on behalf of the National Committee for 4 and 5 May. Over 1,300 Netherlands residents participated this year.

Incidentally, May 5 is not an official holiday, but many people have the day off once every five years. For years, there have been rumors that Liberation Day would become an annual day off. According to Piet Fortuin of trade union FNV, such an extra holiday could yield more than it costs. "People spend a lot of money on such a holiday, for example at festivals and in the catering industry. A holiday can also have a de-stressing effect. Important at a time when employers spend a few billion euros annually on absenteeism costs resulting from stress."