There is support among the Dutch for a more international interpretation of commemoration, according to a survey by the War Graves Foundation. The foundation, which manages 50,000 graves of Dutch war victims worldwide, is today commemorating its 75th anniversary at the National Field of Honor in Loenen.
On the occasion of the anniversary, the foundation had the importance of commemoration investigated. This shows that 96 percent of the population say they commemorate in some way; eight out of ten do this on National Remembrance Day.
Four out of ten people think that May 4 should have a more international character. Seven out of ten say they find the commemoration of all war victims more important than just the Dutch victims.
And six out of ten respondents believe that a commemoration together with other countries leads to a stronger communal bond.
“That outcome intrigues me,” responds director Theo Vleugels of the foundation. “The idea is that commemoration should be more than just looking back. In the Netherlands, commemoration is still very victim-oriented and very internally focused. The national commemoration is a commemoration for Dutch war victims. If you want to bring commemoration to the youth, you have to look more broadly at the past without harming victims,” said Vleugels in the NOS Radio 1 News.
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