On May 4, National Memorial Day, the Dutch commemorate all civilians and members of the armed forces who died in wars and peacekeeping operations since the outbreak of the Second World War. The Dutch flag is flown at half-mast and two minutes of silence are observed at eight o’clock in the evening. In most cities and villages people gather around monuments, listen to speeches, and lay down flowers to remember the dead. The official national commemoration, which is attended by the king and queen, members of the government, military authorities, representatives of the resistance movement, and survivors of persecution, is held at the National Monument on Dam Square in the city center of Amsterdam and is broadcasted on public television. Similar events are organized at other locations, such as the Waalsdorpervlakte in the dunes near The Hague, where many Dutch resistance fighters were executed during the war.

The following day, on May 5, Liberation Day is celebrated with a wide variety of festivals, concerts, fairs and other lively events. It can be argued that these two days, perhaps together with King's Day on April 27, belong to the few truly national holidays during which the Dutch display and ponder their national history and identity.

Although the commemorative festivities aim to address above all wider themes of freedom and liberation from all kinds of war, persecution, and hatred (including links to domestic debates about the position of minorities), the dates are anchored in the more specific memory of the Second World War in the Netherlands. The dates were chosen because on May 5, 1945 the commander of the German army in the Netherlands, General Johannes Blaskowitz, surrendered to his Allied opponent, Canadian Lieutenant- General Charles Foulkes in the small town of Wageningen.

The yearly commemoration of what for most people is still “The War” illustrates the huge impact the Second World War had – and still has – on Dutch society. In common parlance the twentieth century is divided into prewar and postwar generations. Even more than half a century later references to the war can be found almost daily in Dutch newspapers and media.