Dutch Embassy Commemorates War Victims at Sachsenhausen Memorial Site
Remembrance ceremony honours victims and the duty to remember
May 13th, 2026
The Dutch Embassy in Germany held its annual Dodenherdenking commemoration on May 4, 2026, at the Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp Memorial, honouring Dutch victims imprisoned during the Nazi period and reflecting on the continuing significance of remembrance work in Europe.
Approximately 200,000 people were imprisoned at Sachsenhausen during the existence of the camp, among them around 5,000 Dutch prisoners. The commemoration focused not only on historical scale, but on the individual lives behind those figures, those people whose experiences remain central to the memorial culture surrounding former concentration camp sites.
Among the speakers was Chaja Polak, who reflected on the Holocaust through the experiences of her own family. During the ceremony, she emphasised the importance of recognising the humanity of others, describing remembrance as inseparable from contemporary social responsibility. Her remarks framed memory not solely as an act directed toward the past, but as an ethical obligation within the present.
The event was attended by Dirk Wiese, Oranienburg Mayor Jennifer Collin-Feeder, and students from Fontys University of Applied Sciences. Their participation underscored the intergenerational dimension of remembrance initiatives, particularly the role educational institutions continue to play in transmitting historical knowledge.
Held annually on May 4, Dodenherdenking serves in the Netherlands as a national moment of remembrance for victims of war and persecution. The ceremony at Sachsenhausen situated this national tradition within a broader European memory landscape, where former sites of persecution continue to function as spaces of historical reflection, civic education, and public responsibility.
