Commemoration of WW II

It poured out rain today and I missed out my timing to get in time at the commemoration at the Indië Monument in Den Haag. Instead I followed it on tele and took this picture from it with PM Rutte and next to him Erry Stoové; the present Chairman of the Foundation Commemoration of August 15th, 1945 ~ and 20 years ago my boss at the head-office of COA (Central Organisation for Asylumseekers).

The rain on their glasses is what triggered me most in this picture of them... it suits the occasion alright for me.

The words spoken here today were impressive and remind us of keeping safe the heritage of letters and documents that victoms of war made themselves then, as they speak firsthand of what happened to them. As time goes bye the generation who survived WW II is dying out gradually and soon we have no one round to tell us first hand of this era anymore. Speaker Andree van Es spoke of her cousin, who arrived with his mom in a Japanese camp  and lived there the following 3 years; altho' he lives a normal and happy life eversince, he still remembers the stress his mom then lived and scents and sounds of then, they upset him time and again when faced with.

the tele camera spotted this man man today too! Wonderful he's still around!