Dutch national railway NS plans to pay reparations to thousands of Holocaust survivors, their widows, and their children. The decision regards people who were transported by the NS to extermination camps, for which the company earned an estimated 2.5 million euros, adjusted for inflation.
World War II
Jun 26 '19 17:45
Apr 30 '19 08:41
At the end of the Second World War, Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands considered a remarkable exchange with the Nazis in order to help Belgian King Leopold III, who was imprisoned with his family in Austria by the Germans. She asked her Foreign Minister Eelco van Kleffers to find out via the Vatican whether the Nazis could be offered an escape route in exchange for the release of the Belgian royals, newspaper Trouw reports based on a new book.
Oct 17 '18 16:00
A broadly shared wish of Dutch parliamentarians to recover dozens of World War II aircraft wrecks with missing crew members, is one step closer. The government is launching an "national program" to recover these wrecks, Ministers Kasja Ollongren of Home Affairs and Ank Bijleveld of Defense said in a letter to parliament, NOS reports.
Aug 15 '18 09:15
Members of the Eerste- and Tweede Kamer, the Dutch Senate and lower house of parliament, commemorated the victims of World War II who fell in the former Dutch East Indies. On Tuesday Kamer presidents Ankie Broekers-Knol and Kahdija Arib laid a wreath at the plaque for the victims in the Tweede Kamer building, ANP reports.
May 4 '18 10:11
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.
May 4 '18 07:45
The court in Amsterdam banned a planned noise protest during the National Commemoration of World War II victims on Amsterdam's Dam Square on Friday, Remembrance Day.
Interim Amsterdam mayor Jozias van Aartsen also banned the noise protest by action group Geen 4 mei voor mij. Initiator Rogier Meijerink hoped that the court would overturn this ban. But the court ruled against him, RTL Nieuws reports.
Apr 25 '18 08:34
Action group Geen 4 mei voor mij is planning a noise protest during the national commemoration for World War II victims on Amsterdam's Dam square on Remembrance Day, May 4th.
Feb 28 '18 08:51
A massive amount of ammunition from the Second World War was found during construction work at a former primary school in Zwolle. The find included six boxes with around 10 thousand bullets and igniters for mines and hand grenades, NOS reports.
Construction workers discovered the ammunition while working on the sewer last week and called in Defense's explosive experts. The explosive experts called it a rare find. "It concerns French bullets of 8 millimeters that are still in their original packaging. The string of the packaging is even still around it."
Oct 30 '17 15:30
The Anne Frank Foundation has serious objections to a plan to name a German train after Anne Frank. The Deutsche Bahn asked the German public to nominate names for its new trains, and Anne Frank was mentioned several times. But the association thinks that naming a train after the Jewish girl will only result in associations with Jews being deported on trains during World War II, Het Parool reports.
Oct 2 '17 10:05
Retired FBI agent Vince Pankoke is launching an investigation into who exactly informed the Nazis that Anne Frank and her family were hiding in the annex in Amsterdam in 1944. Using new software that can organize and analyze large amounts of data, Pankoke believes he can get to the bottom of what he calls "the ultimate cold case".
Sep 12 '17 13:30
The German A3 highway towards Arnhem will be closed for five days next week due to the discovery of what is believed to be a World War II bomb under the road, AD reports.
The road will be closed between Wessel and Hamminkeln, about 50 kilometers southeast of Arnhem, from 7:00 a.m. on Monday September 18th to 8:00 p.m. on Friday September 22nd, according to the newspaper. German media warns of long traffic jams towards the Netherlands.
Sep 5 '17 07:54
A couple from Vught found a plastic bag full of letters dating from World War II at Utrecht Central Station on Monday. Rens and Maartje Zonnenberg would like to find the owner of the letters and posted a call for information on Facebook.
According to Rens, the letters are dated between 1942 and 1944. They are written in Dutch, but the old handwriting make them difficult to read, he said to newspaper AD. The bag was found on a bench on platform 18. "There are more than 100, 150 maybe", he said.
Aug 21 '17 09:18
The Rutte II cabinet is now officially the longest serving Dutch government since the Second World War. On Sunday the VVD-PvdA coalition served a total of 1,749 days - one day more than the previous record holder, the Lubbers III cabinet, NOS reports.
The third Ruud Lubbers cabinet, a CDA and PvdA coalition, ruled for 1,748 days from 1989 to 1994. The cabinet that followed, Kok I, also had a long formation process, lasting 111 days. Today is the 159th day of the current government formation talks.
Jul 19 '17 11:40
From Wednesday divers will be searching the Hollandse IJssel near Oudewater for World War II bombs. The river needs maintenance between Gouda and Nieuwegein, and the water board wants to make sure that everything is safe before the work can begin, NOS reports.
Historical research shows that the river contains many WWII bombs that never exploded. As long as they are left alone, they are not dangerous. But part of the work that needs to be done to the river is dredging to keep it deep enough for barges. Therefore the bombs will have to be removed first.
May 5 '17 07:47
At 8:00 p.m. on Thursday the Netherlands commemorated the victims of World War II with two minutes of silence. Eleven people were arrested at or around the Remembrance Day commemoration ceremony on Dam Square in Amsterdam. According to the police, most committed minor offenses, AD reports.
May 4 '17 14:50
NS is halting all trains at exactly 8:00 p.m. for the national two minutes of silence to commemorate the victims of World War II on Remembrance Day today. In a video posted online, the Dutch railway company explains how it will manage to stop 330 trains at exactly 8:00 p.m.
May 2 '17 07:58
Amsterdam pastor Rikko Voorberg wants to commemorate killed asylum seekers with 3 thousand white paper crosses on the Rembrandt square in Amsterdam on Remembrance Day. His plan was met by resistance from Jewish organization CIDI and the National Committee for 4 and 5 May, who want to keep the focus of Remembrance Day on victims of World War II, AD reports.
May 1 '17 11:52
Dutch people increasingly believe that an official day off from work should be granted on May 5th, the anniversary of the 1945 liberation of the Netherlands in World War II. Roughly 70 percent of those surveyed by the National Committee 4 and 5 May want Liberation Day to be a day off for all Netherlands employees.
This is an increase from 2016 figures, when 60 percent of respondents wanted the day off. If this were to be realized but in exchange for another holiday, about 30 percent of Dutch people would choose to substitute it for Good Friday.
Apr 3 '17 10:04
An Amsterdam couple that filed a lawsuit to remove a 'stumbling stone' - a memorial stone placed in memory of specific Jews deported during World War II - from in front of their home, dropped their objections after facing a storm of criticism on social media, the Volkskrant reports.
Feb 27 '17 15:50
The municipality of The Hague put 2.6 million euros aside to compensate the relatives of Jewish residents of the city who were "immorally treated" by the city between 1940 and 1955, ANP reports.
Feb 16 '17 10:33
Franz Anton Stapf is registered as a Jewish war victim in the official commemorative book, on the list of the Holocaust memorial center Yad Vashem in Israel and on the wall panels of the Hollandschse Schouwburg in Amsterdam. But new research shows that he was in fact a full-blooded Nazi who worked as a press photographer in Amsterdam from 1935 and fought on the Eastern Front from 1941, the Volkskrant reports.
Feb 1 '17 16:25
What the police describe as a "lightweight bomb" from World War II was found in a thrift store in Assen on Wednesday. An Explosive Ordnance Disposal team will take the bomb away and make sure its safe on Wedneday afternoon, Andries Jan Mulder, director of thrift store De Wissel, told NU.nl
Jan 30 '17 11:35
On Sunday Amsterdam remembered the Holocaust, the Nazi persecution of Jews in World War II, with a silent march from city hall to Wiertheimpark, where a commemoration was held. Prime Minister Mark Rutte and Amsterdam mayor Eberhard van der Laan both spoke at the commemoration, ANP reports.
Rutte and Deputy Prime Minister Lodewijk Asscher together lay a wreath ath the monument mirror Never Again Auschwitz on behalf of the government.
Jan 9 '17 13:05
The police station in Venlo was closed to the public for several hours overnight after three boys brought in a World War II hand grenade they found, AD reports.
The boys found the explosive earlier on Sunday and decided to take it to the police office on Rijnbeekstraat, according to the newspaper.
Police officers carefully placed it in the parking lot and called in the Explosive Ordnance Disposal team to come deal with it. The police station and Rijnbeekstraat was closed down while they waited for the team to arrive.
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