May 4th - Dodenherdenking

Sunday, 4th May, was the Dutch Remembrance Day (or Remembrance of the Dead). At 8pm that night, the country remembers its civilians and members of the armed forces who have died in wars or peacekeeping missions since the outbreak of World War II with a two minute silence. Flags are also traditionally hung at half mast (as in this photo, of a garden in our road).

One of my strongest impressions so far, is that Dutch seem to be a patriotic lot - we recently had Koningsdag (King's day) on 26th April, when the King's birthday was celebrated. Dutch flags are everywhere and people wear a lot of orange (see an earlier Blipfoto entry)! Contrary to this joy is the somewhat sombre remembrance, a little over a week later.

After observing the two minutes silence and related broadcasts, and being struck at how many people, of all ages, had attended the ceremony in Amsterdam, I thought I'd take a look at my street, to get a sense of whether everywhere was as patriotic. I discovered that the (many) houses with Dutch flags in the front garden had them all at half mast and a bell, belonging to a church in the centre of The Hague, was tolling.