Program and speeches

Freedom is alive and kicking!

As director of Montessori College Arnhem, I warmly welcome you to this commemoration at Nassauplein, near our school. It’s wonderful to see that so many of you have gathered again this year to reflect together on what happened at this location eighty-one years ago.

A warm welcome also to our international guests. For many years, we have gathered here to pay tribute to all those who, eighty-one years ago, bravely fought for our freedom in this legendary neighborhood, in our city of Arnhem, and throughout the Netherlands. The large turnout this afternoon demonstrates our continued gratitude for this.

We are grateful to have lived in freedom for over 80 years, and we know we must work hard together to continue to do so. When I see images of countries currently at war, I sometimes wonder: What would our lives have been like if world leaders hadn’t decided to intervene back then?

How would we live today if, in the 1940s, no one had had the courage to stop the occupiers? What if world leaders and allied forces had turned a blind eye to what was happening here in Europe? What would freedom mean today?

The situation in many places around the world can leave me feeling powerless: what can we do? What can I do? You can’t just solve major global problems. That’s why I prefer to look closer to home. Living in peace means to me that everyone should feel safe. How can we ensure that together?

Living in peace isn’t something you just do; you must work hard for it. For me, it means taking care of one another, showing respect for each other, regardless of religion, background, skin colour, gender, or sexual orientation. It requires curiosity about others instead of judging them, listening instead of trying to convince them.

Living together in peace is a skill that must be learned, and at Montessori College Arnhem, we want to provide a safe environment for our students to practice this. We teach them to follow their hearts and take responsibility. I’m incredibly proud to see how enthusiastic our students are again this year to contribute to this commemoration.

Our students’ contribution to this commemoration demonstrates their appreciation for freedom; a freedom which so many people have fought for and even gave their lives. This commemoration needs to be continued, and I am very proud that a group of alumni of our school officially supports the Arnhem Airborne Commemoration Committee.

In this way, we continue to pass the baton, sharing memories to learn from. The youth committee wants to contribute in its own way, including through projects on peace and freedom at our school. I’d love to discuss this with you.

The enthusiasm with which our students are committed here today gives me every confidence that we will continue to share memories of what happened here and never forget that our freedom is alive and well.

A while ago, someone told me about her visit to the Airborne museum, near here, about a man she found with tears in his eyes at one of the museum’s exhibits. After asking why the man was so emotional, she got an answer she hadn’t seen coming.
The World War II veteran recounted his sense of guilt in the failure of his part of Operation Market Garden. The old man felt guilty about the “failure” of the first attempt at the Arnhem liberation.
But my question is, can it be called failure? And that feeling of guilt, was it in the right place with this man? Both answers are no, if you ask me.
That all those soldiers had the courage to take up the challenge of the liberation of Arnhem is already an absolutely miraculous achievement; but how they fought back then is another story. The courage, strength, and perseverance that the soldiers who fought here, in Arnhem, showed during those 9 days of Hell is really indescribable. Yes, we are talking about 9 days and nights, fighting; fighting to keep their place while already surrounded by the enemy.
Can you imagine, you are dropped in a totally unknown city, with houses of people you have never seen before, of people who don’t even speak the same language, but still you have to fight. Everything that should have gone right goes wrong, you don’t even know why in God’s name you would still do this. You don’t want to do this anymore and yet the absolute utmost is asked of you.
In spite of everything, that is exactly what the soldiers gave then, through all the pain and through all the fear, without any knowledge of what was waiting for them around the next corner of that infinite, dark tunnel.
So is that failure? I would not even dare to call it failure.
It was an attempt at winning. An attempt that was required for the achievement.
So let’s never forget those soldiers and those moments, and continue these commemorations, as a sign of gratitude, awareness, compassion and respect. Our liberators fought for the lives of the of many generations after them, willing to give their own lives for it. They fought side by side as brothers until the last moment.
And when they were completely surrounded by the Germans, all ammunition was gone, all hope was gone and the end of Market Garden seemed to be getting closer and closer, they sent out their last radio signal: “Out of ammunition. God save the King.”