Remembering the Second World War (The Netherlands)

5 May 2010, the Netherlands. Every year since 1990, the 5th of May has been a national holiday in the Netherlands. It is Bevrijdingsdag i.e. 'Liberation Day'.  

This year marked the 65th anniversary from when an agreement on the surrender of German Forces in the Netherlands was reached, between the Canadian General Charles Foulkes and the German Commander-in Chief Johannes Blaskowitz. StateCareAndMore.eu is informed that this year's celebrations were particularly impressive: in Groesbeek, which is just on the German border, celebrations were held overlooking a cemetery which houses thousands of graves of the allied (mainly Canadian, 2.339) victims of Market Garden (the failed battle of Arnhem, September 1944) and the (successful) Spring Offensive (February/March 1945). This year Her Magesty the Queen of the Netherlands attended, together with some Canadian veterans/survivors and many Canadian youth.

Images of Liberation Day celebrations
 

Just a week earlier, on 28 April 2010, in Amsterdam, a celebration was held to mark the 50th anniversary from the opening of the Anne Frank House. At the ceremony, a virtual wing of the Anne Frank House was launched. The Secret Annex online like Liberation Day, is intended to remind people about the fragility of democracy and human rights, and to keep alive the grim memory of the human sufferings endured by millions of people.

 Editor's note: special thanks are due to Prof Roel Fernhout for the information on Liberation Day and photos.