May 4th and May 5th – Commemorate and celebrate
The unconditional surrender by the Nazi’s, on the fifth of May 1945, marked the end of almost 5 years of occupation of the Netherlands. Till this date, the Dutch celebrate ‘Liberation Day’, on the fifth of May. And on the eve of that celebration, on the evening of May 4th, they commemorate the fallen, both military and civilian, of the second World War, and those who have fallen during peace keeping missions after that.
Commemoration
During the afternoon and evening of May 4th, from government buildings, in public spaces, and from houses, the Dutch flag will be hung out, halfway down the mast. In the early evening here will be a national ceremony on most TV channels, broadcasted from the national monument in Amsterdam and from a place of remembrance near the Hague.
The country observes two minutes of silence as from 20:00 hour, during which it is requested the traffic will also come to a standstill.
Celebration
May fifth is a day of celebration. This year there will be so called ‘Liberation Festivals’ in 14 cities throughout the country. The Dutch wave the flag, top mast, this time, but without the orange banner in top, as this is not a celebration around the royal house.
Often there are bands playing, and you sometimes see parades with military vehicles and airplanes from the 1940’s.
