Commemoration 2020

Nathan Aandagt, October 26, 1942, Auschwitz, age 63
Sophia Aandagt-van Goch, October 26, 1942, Auschwitz, 64 years
Cornelis Aarnouts, August 10, 1943, Waalsdorpervlakte, 28 years
Petrus Aarssen, 8 March 1945, Waalsdorpervlakte, 36 years
Roger Henri René Abma, February 29, 1944, Waalsdorpervlakte, 24 years

"As long as we honor their names, they will never be forgotten"

These are the first five names of the 574 Wassenaarders who did not survive World War II. The names are read from a unique book. The Book of Honor with the names of Wassenaar victims of World War II, compiled from the "List of Names," published in 2016.

Among them soldiers and young fighters who were in the resistance, many of whom were executed on the Waalsdorpervlakte. Holocaust victims and young men who had been put to work as forced laborers in Germany. Among them also Englanders who never arrived. A little boy who walked on a landmine. Two nuns who died in an air raid and merchant marine officers, killed in combat at sea.

Behind every name is a story. A story of a person who had to pay for this pitch-black page of our history with his or her life. A story of a loved one missed by those who stayed behind. That loss has left deep marks, even to this day.  

World War II cost the lives of hundreds of thousands of Dutch people. Most of them by war violence, but many also by horrible hardships in, for example, the hunger winter of 1945. We commemorate all these victims today.

This year, 2020, we commemorate and celebrate that we have been allowed to live in freedom for 75 years. Do we pause to remember all those people to whom we owe this freedom. However, this freedom is still not a given. There are still many who perish worldwide due to war and violence. Anti-Semitism and discrimination unfortunately still occur and tolerance is not a given in our society. Thus, freedom and democracy remain fragile. Moreover, we are currently realizing the value of our freedom once again, now that many of these freedoms have been curtailed in favor of our health.

The corona pandemic turns out to be an invisible enemy that ruthlessly claims victims worldwide. This virus makes people sick and causes insecurity, fear and loneliness. Today, it is the many caregivers, such as doctors and the nurses, who are on the front lines of nursing homes and hospitals. They are the heroes of today. However, it does not do justice to make a comparison with the outcasts of World War II. It does, however, make you think. How terrible it must have been to be hit by a ruthless visible enemy. The personal experiences and experiences of eyewitnesses from that time are therefore of great value. Even when the people are no longer around, their stories should continue to live on. Is it our duty to continue to cherish the tangible monumental traces of the war. 

May 4, 2020 is a special commemoration. Circumstances force us to commemorate in a domestic setting. Fortunately, the Bourdon bell on the Waalsdorpervlakte will ring. On Dam Square, the Royal Couple will only lay a wreath and many of you will follow the King's speech at home on the couch. Yet it remains incredibly important to stand still together and remember together, wherever we are and whatever our situation. To feel connected to each other in this way. To realize together that there is more that binds us than divides us. To honor and remember together, which is why we are all silent for two minutes at the same time at 8 p.m.

In these two minutes of silence we honor all residents and military personnel, who have been killed or murdered in the Kingdom of the Netherlands or anywhere in the world since the outbreak of World War II, in war situations and in peace missions. Also, the 574 names of Wassenaarders.  

The names of the Wassenaar victims are listed in this monumental Book of Honor, giving it a tangible place. In doing so, we do justice to their sacrifice and stories and thus pass it on to future generations.

"As long as we honor their names, they will never be forgotten"

Leendert de Lange, mayor of Wassenaar