Liberation Day

On May 5th we celebrate Liberation Day in the Netherlands. On this day we were liberated from the Nazi occupation by the Americans, British, Polish, Belgian, Dutch and Czechoslovak troops. It is amazing that it took so many allies to free this small piece of land. The south-east of the Netherlands, where I live, were already liberated by the British and American forces, so we also have a Liberation Day somewhere in September. However, our National Liberation Day is gaining popularity over our local Liberation Day.

Liberation Day concert in Den Bosch

Like many countries we had a huge post-World War 2 baby boom. A big part of that is the result of the Liberation day party in 1945. On documentaries on television we have seen it was a wild party. And when we asked grandma about Liberation Day when we were kids, all she would tell us was stories about getting chocolate, chewing gum and cigarettes from the American soldiers. About the drinking and whatever happened after that she remained silent. One would say that a lot more could be told about the party of the century, but either because of shame, or because of memory loss due to excessive alcohol use, or maybe because of a secret oath they all took on the day after Liberation day, nobody could tell us anything. All we ever noticed was that uncle Joop or aunt Katrien looked very different from the rest of the family, but hey, that's what a war can do to people.

Liberation Day on May 5th 1945 in Amsterdam

On Liberation day we celebrate our freedom. Bands play music everywhere, and people go out and have a good time. Since everyone has to go to work the next day, the party will never be as wild as Kingsday. Also we don't wear orange, and really have no clue why not, but for some reason it just doesn't feel right.  

Our Prime-Minister Rutte lighting the Freedom Fire

  
Liberation Day is a national holiday, but for some reason we do not all get a day off, most people have to work like on any other day. I was lucky though, I did have a day off, and I spent most of it in bed sleeping and dreaming. Afterwards I took a nice walk in the sunshine by myself, no one nagging, no drama, no stress. Now that is what I call freedom! 

My bed, where I spend a big part of Liberation Day 2014