Trains came to a halt, cars pulled to the side of the road, and no planes arrived or departed in the Netherlands for two minutes on Sunday, as the country went silent to remember victims of war. Thousands of people gathered in Amsterdam to watch as Dutch King Willem-Alexander laid a wreath at a war memorial, 80 years and a day since the country was liberated from Nazi occupation in 1945. The first speaker during the nationally televised event was 14-year-old Marijn van der Wilk, who read a poem he wrote about resistance during the war. "They were brothers, sisters, neighbors. Just people, like you or me. In a time when doing good could be life-threatening. And yet they did it," he said.
Prime Minister Dick Schoof discussed the grief his family felt over the death of his grandfather, who was executed by Nazi soldiers for his work in the resistance. "On this day, in the two minutes of silence, that echo sounds extra loud. When we think of all the people who were murdered for who they were. Who died of hunger or exhaustion. Or who fought for peace and freedom. Our peace and freedom," Schoof said. The national day of commemoration, at which flags fly at half-staff throughout the country, honors military personnel and civilians killed in conflicts around the world since the outbreak of World War II. It is followed Monday by celebrations to mark the country's liberation from Nazi German occupation at the end of the war.
Not everyplace in the country observed the remembrance, per the AP. Some predominantly Christian areas honored the dead on Saturday, as to not disrupt the Sunday sabbath. In The Hague, a few hundred people gathered for an alternative commemoration. A group of civil servants organized an event to remember all victims of conflict, frustrated with the Dutch government's response to the attacks on Gaza. Later Sunday evening, two veterans will light a Liberation Fire to launch a day of celebrations marking the 80th anniversary of the end of German occupation of the Netherlands. Mervyn Kersh, a 100-year-old veteran from Britain, and Nick Janicki, 101, from Canada, will light the flame in Wageningen, where German officers signed the official surrender in 1945.
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