Dutch State Secretary Speaks on Holocaust Education in Trondheim, Norway
The following are excerpts from the remarks the Dutch State Secretary Dr. Jet Bussemaker’s delivered at the November 2009 meeting of the Task Force for International Cooperation on Holocaust Education, Remembrance, and Research in Trondheim, Norway:
"Ladies and gentlemen,
About one and a half year ago, I visited the ITF for the first time. In three working group meetings I spoke about the Dutch program ‘Heritage of the Second World War’. In fact, in the Netherlands, we named it the ‘Heritage of The War’-program, which reveals the fact that when in the Netherlands we speak about ‘the war’, there is only one war that comes to our mind: the Second World War.
The magnitude of this war and its consequences still claims a prominent position in the collective memory of the Dutch. And the murder of the Jewish people and other ethnic groups by the Nazis, developed a moral touchstone of standards and boundaries when it comes to human rights.
In the Netherlands, at times, we thought that the dominant position of WWII in our mental framework, and within our society, would fade in time. But that has not been the case. The interest in the Second World War is now as intense as it was 10 or 20 years ago. And personally I am convinced that this war will - also for generations to come - hold a firm position in constructing and maintaining our moral believes and convictions.
Yet, at the same time, we must face the fact that new violent conflicts around the world, and the atrocities that accompany them, will also claim a place of their own in this framework. Especially for new generations, lacking a personal and vivid remembrance of the WWII-events, the war on the Balkans, the genocide in Rwanda and the shocking events of 9/11, will too shape their convictions about violence, racism and intolerance.
And we must also acknowledge the fact that a considerable part of our new fellow-countrymen originates from outside Europe. Their connection to the Second World War is inevitably a different one, and partly even missing.
The Dutch government feels a responsibility for a solid historical consciousness within our community, in particular with respect to the history of the Second World War. This responsibility will not fade away as time goes by. But time does go by, and our cabinet realized about four years ago that we are about to enter a new phase in commemorating and remembering this war. Our society has changed tremendously in the past 65 years, and so did the Dutch population.
How can we keep the memory of WWII alive ànd meaningful in these changing circumstances?
This question becomes even more complicated by the inevitable fact that the generation that lived through the years of war, occupation and persecution, soon no longer will be among us. Their stories have functioned as a constant warning and made it very clear that democracy, liberty and human rights are by no means abstract concepts. And that violating these values has a devastating impact on society as a whole and on the lives of people living within that society.
From 1945 until now, the Dutch government has put ahead two principles, when it comes to commemorating and supporting Dutch citizens that suffered during the Second World War.
The first principle is that of ‘exceptional solidarity’ with each and every one of them. The second principle is a ‘debt of honour’, we as a nation owe to all groups of war victims in our country. These two principles have led to a system of benefits and care for different groups of wartime victims. But a full execution of both principles, in our view, implies also taking care of the legacy of these groups and of the wartime generation as a whole: taking care of their ‘heritage of the war’.
This heritage contains eye witness accounts, documents, photographs, audiovisual material, personal objects and archives. Preservation of these materials is essential. Not in order to store them into the cellars of archival institutions. But in order to enable this material to reach out to a wider audience.
It is the only way to connect our present with this particular and confronting past. The heritage of our wartime generation must be able to fulfil the role of ‘storyteller’, when the people themselves are no longer able to do so.
In the year 2006 the Dutch government decided, based on the premises I just mentioned, to start the program Heritage of the War. The objectives of this program are:
firstly: to ensure that important heritage material is saved from decay and doesn’t disappear from sight. This means preservation, mostly by passive conservation and digitalization.
secondly: to ensure that large parts of our WWII-heritage material becomes accessible for every Dutchman that wants to be informed. Digitalization and making use of internet-facilities are the keywords here.
and thirdly: to enable organisations to construct public-oriented applications based upon heritage-material. To achieve this goal, a number of websites, audio-tours and documentaries were constructed.
The program is executed under the auspices of the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport. This ministry is also responsible for the care of war victims: the Jews, Roma and Sinti, members of the resistance and their families, and the Dutch who suffered from the Japanese terror in the former Dutch East Indies. The programme started in 2007 and will continue until the summer of 2010. For its implementation, a total of 23.7 million euro was made available."