Editing Remembrance of the Dead (section)

== Description ==
{{unreferenced section|date=May 2017}}
[[File:Dodenherdenkingsdag in Amsterdam.ogv|thumb|left|''Dodenherdenking'' in Amsterdam 1962, Dutch newsreel]]

Until 1961 the commemoration only related to the Dutch victims of [[World War II]]. Since 1961, the victims of other military conflicts (such as the [[Indonesian National Revolution]] in Indonesia) and peacekeeping missions (such as in Lebanon or [[Bosnia and Herzegovina|Bosnia]]) are remembered on 4 May as well.

Traditionally, the main ceremonies are observed in Amsterdam at the [[National Monument (Amsterdam)|National Monument]] on [[Dam Square]]. This ceremony is usually attended by members of the cabinet and the [[House of Orange-Nassau|royal family]], military leaders, representatives of the [[Dutch resistance|resistance movement]] and other social groups.

At 20:00 two minutes of [[moment of silence|silence]] is observed throughout the Netherlands. Public transport is stopped as well as all other traffic. Radio and TV only broadcast the ceremonies from 19:00 until 20:30. Since 4 May 1994 flags, having hung at [[half-mast|half-staff]] from 18:00, are then hoisted to the music of the [[Wilhelmus]], the Dutch [[national anthem]]. Since 2001 the new protocol says it is allowed to let the flag hang at half-staff.

The main commemorations in Amsterdam are broadcast by the public broadcasting company [[Nederlandse Omroep Stichting|NOS]] and there are ceremonies in all Dutch cities and other places as well.  Especially notable are those at the [[Waalsdorpervlakte]] near The Hague where many Dutch resistance fighters were executed during the war, and at the war cemetery [[Grebbeberg]], which are broadcast by the commercial broadcasting companies. In many towns, before or after the two minutes of silence, people gather around a monument, listen to speeches, and lay down flowers to remember the dead.

The next day, on 5 May, people [[Liberation Day (The Netherlands)|celebrate the liberation]] of the nation from the [[Nazi Germany|German]] occupation of 1940 to 1945.