Speech by Mayor Bezuijen | National Commemoration 2025

Just now, at eight o'clock we were silent for two minutes.
Not only here in Wilhelminapark, but throughout the Netherlands.

I always find that an impressive moment.
Not only the silence, the - literal - standing still, but especially because we all do it together.

That makes those two minutes of silence not dead, but deafening.

As if by being silent together, remembering together, we make the memories stronger.

As if that collective silence transforms memories into images and sound.

So that for a moment we can really see all those people and events that we commemorate today.

Not in black and white but in color.

That's what I found so impressive about the exhibition "World War II in Color," which we organized here in Zoetermeer as one of the many activities celebrating eighty years of freedom.

By suddenly seeing all those images in color, the people and events in the photos suddenly came a lot closer.

Did I see not history, but people who fought and perished, lived and survived.

People who are not all in those photos.
People, Zoetermeerders, who tell their stories in Ton Vermeulen's book "Village in War.

People like Jan Verheul who made all kinds of surrogates in his Hocus Pocus factory to make sure people had food.

People like Robert Roos who for years had to work for the Germans in what was then Czechoslovakia under miserable conditions.

People like Piet Wieriks, who as sexton of the Old Church, took in Jewish people in hiding because, according to him, "it doesn't matter if you are religious or not or what you believe in. Every person has a right to freedom."

The photo that made a big impression on me during the exhibition was the photo of Zoetermeerders cheering Canadian liberators in 1945 on what is now the A12 near the Nutricia factory.

What an impressive picture!!!

Because after the war we regained our freedom, and this year marks the 80th anniversary of that.

Eighty years ago we began to rebuild everything that the war, what the occupation, what violence and hatred, had broken.

The Netherlands had to recover, had to heal, had to become whole again,
Not only physically, but also mentally.
Not only our prosperity, but also our well-being.
Not only the damage had to be repaired, but also the trust.
Of citizens in the government, of people in each other.

That reconstruction, like fighting for our freedom, was human work.

People's work, with and for other people.

This is how we built our society, our community, our country after the war.

Stone by stone.
With sleeves rolled up.

Meanwhile, we have seen Zoetermeer grow from a village to a sizeable city, welcomed residents from all corners of the world, met each other at work, at school and in the streets, through faith, sports and culture.

Yes, we built something beautiful together.

Let's make sure together that we don't tear that down - after 80 years.

I'll be very honest: in the 11 years I've been mayor, I've never been more concerned.
About our freedom and our safety.
I think many of you feel the same way.

Every day we see the images on TV, see what happens to ordinary people in war zones, hear the warnings and what we ourselves can - should - do to prepare for the worst.

At war, at the loss of our security and our freedom, at the disappearance of the certainties on which we have built our society.

The only way to defend against it is to make sure we are resilient.

Not only literally, by taking measures to prevent war and be able to fight if it does happen, but certainly by making sure we are resilient as a society.

By seeing each other, listening to each other, by addressing problems rather than pushing forward.

Yes, it is time to roll up our sleeves together again, to work together to build a resilient society, to fight our freedom together again.

Because living together is human work.

This requires a willingness not only to take but also to give.

To realize that freedom is not only our individual freedom, but also the freedom of others.

That freedom is not only about making your own space, but also about making space for others.

That we should not only take care of ourselves but also be there for another.

This is the basis of our society, of our democratic rule of law.

We must continue to build on that.

Brick by brick.

So that when your children later see the stones of this war memorial, they will see not only what we have built together, but also the foundation on which they must continue to build.

As we commemorate together today: not in black and white but in color, not dead but deafening.

So that we can also celebrate our freedom together for the next 80 years.

With sleeves rolled up.

In complete freedom.