Remembrance day on campus

Every year on this date, people in The Netherlands commemorate war victims who fell since the start of the Second World War. Tonight, at 20.00, many people stay silent for two minutes to do so. But do students still value this Remembrance Day? Univers asked around on campus.Every year, 4 and 5 May cause some controversy. For example, the commemoration of German soldiers who died during the war is a topic that keeps coming back annually. This year, young activist Christa Noëlla got a lot of attention with her Twitter campaign #geen4meivoormij (no 4 May for me). She says that she cannot support this tradition in a society were fascism rises and hate against moslims is not contested. Most news reports, however, are about stories from war victims and people who pay their respects to them.

We asked around on campus to see if Tilburg University students still pay attention to Remembrance Day and what it means to them.

“No, I am too busy today. That might sound weird. I only noticed that it was Remembrance Day today when I watched the news this morning. I did think that I should do something with it. At the moment of the two minutes silence, I’ll be in library anyway, so that makes it easy. Personally, commemorating does not mean that much to me, but I can understand why it is important for other people.”
Anonymous, 24, law

“I will be silent if I happen to see it on television, but I do not specifically pay attention to it. I do think it is important to reflect on this topic.”
Jelle Pelsser, 23, master marketing

“I do not purposefully think about it. If I happen to be in a bar tonight, I will not be silent. So I will not dismiss everything else for it, but if I see it, I will join in the two minutes of silence. It is important to me to realize how good we have it here.”
Marc Simones, 24, master marketing

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