Amsterdam Mayor Femke Halsema, actor Jeroen Krabbe to speak at Holocaust Remembrance

Actor Jeroen Krabbé and Amsterdam Mayor Femke Halsema will speak on Sunday, January 25, during the National Holocaust Remembrance Day, NOS reports. The broadcaster will provide live coverage of the event.

A silent procession from Amsterdam City Hall to Wertheim Park will be held on January 25. Participants will pause at Jan Wolkers’ Auschwitz Monument to lay wreaths, where Mayor Halsema and Krabbé, both of whom lost family members during the Second World War, will address those in attendance

The commemoration often includes a one-minute silence. Poems, music, or personal testimonies are sometimes shared as well.

The remembrance is held each year around January 27, marking the liberation of Auschwitz in 1945. Auschwitz-Birkenau, the nearby camp, saw the highest number of killings among all concentration and extermination camps, making it a global symbol of the mass murder of innocent civilians. Of the 140,000 Jews residing in the Netherlands in 1940, 102,000 perished during the war.

Educational initiatives frequently accompany the National Holocaust Remembrance, with schools bringing students to the monument or hosting guest speakers. These programs aim to educate young people about the dangers of racism and antisemitism while preserving the memory of history.