5 May 2018
Today it’s Liberation Day in The Netherlands. It’s the day that announced the end of the Nazi German occupation in the Netherlands during WWII. Liberation day is the day after Remembrance Day, when the Dutch remember the victims of wartime violence.
Although I have never experienced a life in war and violence, somehow these days always have had a special feeling and above all they were sunny! I remember when I was younger we used to turn on the television the 4th of May and together with my family we watched the ceremony that takes place each year near the National Monument in the capital city of Amsterdam. Ministers and members of the royal family were solemny laying down garlands of flowers near the monument at the Dam. Speeches were held. People gathered together in this beautiful, free city, that once had been a place of danger and betrayal.
Years ago I was one of the people standing near the monument. I listened to a young girl who recited a poem. When this city and country had been occupied by Nazi Germany her parents weren’t even born. The girl had learned from stories, from books, from teachers what happened in her country many decades ago. She could only imagine. At a certain point her imagination would stop as the desperation and terror people experienced many years ago reach far beyond her belief (and mine).
Today is the day of Liberation. Most of us don’t know what it means to live in an unfree country. A free country with free people, it’s a hell of a privilege. Most of us don’t know to live in a constant fear because we are “different”. Most of us don’t realize what it means to live in chaos and injustice. Most of us don’t have a single idea what true evil is, how malicious we can become when we have the power and see “the other” as inferior, the cause of our misery. “Never again”, are the words we hear. Never. Again.
We dance. We drink. We laugh. We live.
We are peacefully laying down our heads to sleep tonight.
“Never again” a whispering voice says.
Photo by Toa Heftiba on Unsplash
☆evalunes 
Reblogged this on ☆evalunes and commented:
I wrote this blogpost on Dutch Liberation Day 5 years ago. Times have changed during these years, and so am I. And probably you too.
Freedom is fragile and under pressure. And of course there’s a new war on the European continent since last year. Sadly, I have seen more intolerance since I wrote this. Polarisation and intolerance. Social media are full with it. Culture wars are being fought over between left and right. Yet, we are free people, aren’t we?
I’d like to share a poem I wrote a while ago. It expresses how I feel today.
It’s called Seeping Poison.
Sorry, only Dutchies can read it (as in Dutch I can express my feelings best).
Sijpelend Gif
Het neerkijken op de ander,
op hem, de voorbijganger, met een keppeltje op zijn hoofd
(mei 2023: of wat anders afwijkends)
De minachtende woorden die jaren later niet alleen nagalmen,
maar stevig hun weg boren door straten en mensenharten.
Het daaropvolgend maar zwijgen
We willen toch niet als racist, islamofoob of aanhanger van de Israëlische politiek bekend zijn? Trouwens, anti-semiet al evenmin
Of het “antisemitisme” maar gijzelen
Want wie kritiek heeft op het heilige land maakt hem of haar toch tot regelrechte verrader?
Spreken we ons uit, staan we op en verzetten we ons
als deze man zijn koffer pakt en moet vluchten voor zijn bestaan?
Of als zijn joodse moeder, die de hel op aarde overleefde, met vlammen en messteken in haar oude lijf alsnog de dood wordt ingejaagd?
Sluiten we liever onze ogen,
omdat we niet aan ‘de verkeerde kant’ willen belanden?
Kijken we aangenaam door de glazen van die warme, roze bril,
waarbij we vinden dat we alle verschillen tussen mensen moeten omarmen?
Of bevrijden we ons van onze ‘gevoeligheden’,
de politiek gewenste opvattingen,
de lafheid, de onverschilligheid
en laten we ons mens-zijn spreken met een koffer vol verhalen
die ons hart voor altijd hebben geraakt?
En verzetten we ons met hand en tand
tegen het sijpelende gif, de minachting, de dodelijke teneur?
Ons blijvend laten afleiden door discussies,
die het sijpelende gif langzaam maar zeker verder doet verspreiden
Sijpelend langs de kieren, in de gaten en door de ruimten
We vergeten, het is dodelijk.
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