Dutch Senate President Jan Anthonie Bruijn and House of Representatives Speaker Martin Bosma attended the National Holocaust Commemoration in Amsterdam on Sunday, January 26. They laid a wreath at the Mirror Monument Never Again Auschwitz on behalf of the States General.
The National Holocaust Commemoration takes place annually in Wertheim Park, Amsterdam, on the last Sunday of January. This years speakers included Prime Minister Dick Schoof, chairman of the Dutch Auschwitz Committee Jacques Grishaver, and Amsterdam Mayor Femke Halsema. Herman van Veen performed the song Rivierenbuurt. Survivor Karel Beesemer gave a speech. A silent march preceded the commemoration.
On November 1, 2005, then-UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan declared the liberation date of Auschwitz-Birkenau, January 27, 1945, as a day of remembrance: The Holocaust Memorial Day. Worldwide, Holocaust victims and those of other genocides are commemorated.
The Dutch Senate and House have adopted the names of four Jewish parliamentarians who perished in World War II at the Holocaust Names Monument in Amsterdam. These are Senate members Simon de la Bella (SDAP) and Maup Mendels (SDAP) and House members Alida de Jong (SDAP) and Mozes Cohen (VDB). They were murdered or died in Nazi concentration camps during World War II.
On Monday, January 27, the commemoration of the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the former German concentration and extermination camp Auschwitz-Birkenau will take place. King Willem-Alexander, Prime Minister Dick Schoof, and State Secretary Vincent Karremans of Youth, Prevention, and Sports will attend.
On the States General website, all commemorations and other activities from September 2024 onwards are gathered: