Let�s celebrate freedom!

Picture: Shutterstock
Written by: 360.org
Monday, 11 February 2019

1945 - Today it�s Liberation Day. At least it is in the Netherlands. May 5th marks the end of the occupation by Nazi Germany during World War II. The Netherlands had been occupied by the Germans for five years from 1940 till 1945. Nowadays Dutch people still celebrate the day of the German capitulation.

A bridge too far
The Netherlands was largely liberated by the First Canadian Army. The nation would have been liberated sooner, if it weren�t for the bridge by Arnhem, the so called �Bridge too far�. The military �Operation Market Garden�, meant to free the Netherlands, Belgium and France went severely wrong. Nevertheless, on May 5th 1945, the Canadian General Charles Foulkes and the German commander-in-Chief Johannes Blaskowitz reached an agreement on the capitulation of German forces in Hotel de Wereld in the Dutch town of Wageningen. One day later all documents were signed.

National holiday
The years following the war, freedom was celebrated every five years. In 1990 May 5th was declared a national holiday. Nowadays people in the Netherlands celebrate liberation every year. There are lots of music festivals throughout the country and parades of veterans at some cities. The celebrations follow a day of remembrance. May 4th is the day the Dutch remember all victims of war.

360 trivial fact
Actress Audrey Hepburn lived in the Netherlands during the war. She had a Dutch mother. Audrey played a part during the war. She danced in a bar, to raise money for the resistance.

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