Dear members of the Dutch community and Dutch (and other) media in Australia,
Today is the 5th of May, the Netherlands Day of Remembrance.
This morning, Ambassador Marion Derckx and our defence attaché, Lieutenant colonel Elmar Hermans, held a small ceremony for two persons to honour the Netherlands National Remembrance Day at The Royal Netherlands and East Indies Forces Memorial in Russell. The ambassador laid a wreath, followed by a minute of silence and The Ode.
Every year on the 4th of May, the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Australia organises a Remembrance Day ceremony in Canberra.
Because of Covid-19 we had to cancel this year's ceremony.
If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact the embassy.
Kind regards,
Femke Withag MA
Senior policy officer cultural affairs and public diplomacy
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Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands
120 Empire Circuit │ Yarralumla ACT 2600 │ Australia
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T +61 (0)2 6220 9408
femke.withag@minbuza.nl │ can-pcz@minbuza.nl
www.netherlandsworldwide.nl │ www.netherlandsandyou.nl
History
Liberation Day (Dutch: Bevrijdingsdag) is a public holiday in the Netherlands celebrated each year on 5 May to mark the end of the occupation by Nazi Germany during World War II. It follows the Remembrance of the Dead (Dodenherdenking) on 4 May.
The nation was liberated by Canadian forces, British infantry divisions, the British I Corps, the 1st Polish Armoured Division, American, Belgian, Dutch and Czechoslovak troops. Parts of the country, in particular the south-east, were liberated by the British Second Army which included American and Polish airborne forces (see Operation Market Garden) and French airbornes (see Operation Amherst). On 5 May 1945 the Canadian General Charles Foulkes and the German Commander-in-Chief Johannes Blaskowitz reached an agreement on the capitulation of German forces in the Netherlands in Hotel de Wereld in Wageningen. One day later the capitulation document was signed in the auditorium of Wageningen University located next door.
After liberation in 1945, Liberation Day was celebrated every five years. In 1990 the day was declared a national holiday when liberation would be remembered and celebrated every year. Festivals are held in most places in the Netherlands with parades of veterans and musical festivals throughout the whole country.