The Dutch will remember their war dead on a deserted Dam

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The Netherlands will come to a standstill at 8pm on Monday as the Dutch remember those killed in war or during peacekeeping operations since the outbreak of the outbreak of World War II. But this year there will be no massed crowds at Dam square in the centre of Amsterdam, where king Willem-Alexander, queen Maxima and other dignitaries usually lay wreaths at the war memorial. Instead, the Dam will be deserted, and the king and queen will lay a wreath in the presence of prime minister Mark Rutte, Amsterdam mayor Femke Halsema plus a handful of others. The king will also make a televised speech to the nation. ‘The Dam will never have been so empty on Remembrance Day,’ Rutte said at his weekly press conference on Friday. ‘In that sense, coronavirus is making us very aware of how important our freedom is.’

Shops close New arrivals to the Netherlands are often surprised by the solemnity of the May 4 tradition. All shops are required by law to close by 7pm. Public transport and road traffic comes to a standstill nationwide at 8pm and flags are hung at half-mast. This year people are being urged to download a poster and hang it in their window to show that remembrance is something done together, even though people are at home because of coronavirus. ‘We do not remember only to look back, but to keep the memories alive and to pass on each story again,’ said Eddo Verdoner, chairman of Jewish organisation Centraal Joods Overleg and main driver of the poster initiative. The project is supported by the Dutch council of churches RvK and the Muslim organsation CMO. You can also lay a virtual flower at one of the 3,900 war memorials in the Netherlands or donate a real bunch of flowers to one of 75 memorials.

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