Speaker of the House at National Holocaust Remembrance

Speaker of the House Thom van Campen attended the National Holocaust Remembrance on Sunday, 25 January, at the Wertheim Park in Amsterdam. Together with First Speaker Mei Li Vos, he laid a wreath on behalf of the States General.

Annual Remembrance

They laid the wreath at the Spiegelmonument ‘Never Again Auschwitz’ in Wertheim Park, Amsterdam. Every year on the last Sunday of January, the victims of the Holocaust are commemorated here.

Speeches

The remembrance began with a silent march, followed by the wreath laying in Wertheim Park and various speeches. Speakers included Amsterdam Mayor Femke Halsema, chairwoman Linda Clewits of the Dutch Auschwitz Committee, and actor/artist Jeroen Krabbé, whose eighty family members were murdered during World War II. The Gypsy Orchestra Brandt and Maarten Peters provided the music. 

Impressive

“The National Holocaust Remembrance in Amsterdam is an impressive and painful reminder of one of the darkest chapters in history,” Van Campen said afterwards. “Today I was honored to attend. We continue to remember so that we never forget.”

81 years

This year marks 81 years since the liberation of the Netherlands and the Auschwitz concentration and extermination camp.