May 4th 20h two minutes silence

Each year on the 4th of may at 20.00 there’s 2 minutes silence in The Netherlands. In lots of places big and small people gather to remember, to honour and stand still that this year 79 years ago the war in The Netherlands ended. We stand still because so many families were broken and suffered loss of loved ones. And these families passed these memories on to their children and hopefully that will continue for generations.

As a child I read every book I could find about WOII. Borrowing from the Public Library, reading Oorlogswinter from Jan Terlouw at school, but the best place were the bookshelves of my grandfather in his study room. He had so many books about the war, In this room I could read for a lifetime and off course I asked my grandparents a lot about the war. When I was younger I didn’t understand why these answers didn’t come easy, were short and didn’t reflect what I read in the books and saw on the pictures. Years later I realised more and more how difficult these questions must have been for them. Now I remember very well that my grandmother said that she was so afraid all the time. Afraid of the Nazi’s and afraid that there was no food. These words contained deeper meaning than I realised as a kid.

The older my grandfather became the more he told me about the war. Travelling by bike from Den Haag to Zutphen to find food, Razzia’s and listening to the radio. Noticing flying airplanes and anti-aircraft guns and how he nearly got killed on several occasions. One day he told me he slept at a farm and was woken up by the nazi’s and had to start digging a hole. He was certain that he was going to be shot but suddenly the situation changed and 5 minutes later he was back on the road again on his bike again in the middle of the night.

A good friend of mine found out about her mother in the war after her mother died. She left a suitcase with newspapers and diaries, which tell an impressive story. Her mother never said a word and that is what often happened. People remained silent about the situation during the war. Here in The Netherlands, but also with the soldiers who participated on D-Day and survived. That’s how they dealt with it, so different from today. I think it is important that we continue to share their stories as long as we can.

This year I will accompany my running friends and we will be silent together for 2 minutes. After that we will leave and drive to Wageningen, the city where the capitulation of the Nazi’s was signed. 2.500 runners will run through the night and bring the Freedom fire to all these cities and towns in The Netherlands. Tomorrow at 12.00 in all these places the torch will light a bigger flame to celebrate liberation day and cherish our freedom.

Lest we forget

Herco Lim