On Saturday, May 4, 2024, members of the Dutch Canadian Community will commemorate the fallen “Dutch citizens” and the contributions of Canadian veterans and families to liberate the Netherlands from Nazi Germany’s occupation during the Second World War.
In the Netherlands, the memorial commemoration event is known as “Dodenherdenking”. The “Dutch-Canadian Remembrance Day Service” will take place at Mountain View Cemetery on May 4, 2024 at 10:15 am. The cemetery address is 5455 Fraser Street, Vancouver, BC V5W 2Z3 and located west of Fraser Street between 31st and 43rd Avenue.
A reception will be held following the commemoration service in the Celebration Hall at Mountain View Cemetery.
Participants are invited to participate in leaving tulips or a bouquet of flowers at a veteran’s gravesite or war memorial monument.
Please confirm your attendance and participation for this free event by clicking on: https://shorturl.at/clT07
Additional Information:
On May 5th, is also Liberation Day in the Netherlands which marks the end of Nazi Germany’s occupation during the Second World War. On April 10, 2019, a private member’s motion in the 42nd Canadian Parliament, 1st Session was passed to recognize May 5th as Dutch Hertiage Day in Canada. The day is set aside to recognize and honour the many contributions that Canadians have made to Canada’s social, cultural, and economic fabric. The date May 8, 1945, marks the end of the Second World War in Europe.
To mark the momentous occasion a YouTube video documentary called “75 Years Later: The Sounds of Freedom”, produced in 2020, may be watched in commemoration of the liberation of the Netherlands by Canadian Forces. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WYyvyDrdD64&authuser=2
In the documentary, viewers are taken through time as a young girl discovers a crate full of war artifacts that belonged to her great-grandfather, including hand written letters to her great-grandmother. The great-grandfather’s voice from the past recalls important events that led to the Liberation of the Netherlands back in 1945. Interwoven with musical performances from the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, the Dutch Symphony Orchestra and the Seaforth Highlanders, WWII veterans and Dutch survivors share their stories and memories.
