Netherlands

When looking into world independence days, I found that the Netherlands neither had an independence day, a foundation day nor a “national” day. What they do have, however, is a Liberation Day on 5 May. This is not a public holiday every year (every fifth year it is observed as a holiday) but it is a day of national celebration each year. In a way, Liberation Day is similar to the “Independence Restoration” days that some former SSRs celebrate, and liberation from occupation—in this case, the German occupation of World War II—is certainly a opportunity for national reflection.

Ideas we have of the Netherlands? Windmills, clogs, tulips. Those of us with the inclination, gouda and edam. Bicycles everywhere and pretty blue and white delft pottery. Also, tolerance: drugs, sexuality, abortion, euthanasia… The Netherlands is also the home of many international courts, situated in The Hague. It all adds up to an idea of a place where human rights are respected, and no-one is afraid to embrace the slightly kitsch. Plus, there’s art.

The Netherlands has been inhabited for millennia—though it’s really from the middle ages onward that the Netherlands figures in world history. Following the Eighty Years’ War from 1568-1648 the independence of the Netherlands was recognised, with the 1648 Treaty of Münster. During the Eighty Years’ War the Dutch provinces were the most important trading centre in Europe. Because I’m fascinated by the play, I was interested to learn that during this period, Dutch ships hunted whales of Svalbard. (Svalbard! Look at some pictures. Desolate and beautiful.) The Dutch were part of the slave trade—a significant portion of the wealth of the Netherlands came through slavery during the slave trade period.

During the French revolution the Netherlands came under the occupation of the French army (pesky Napoleon!) and in 1806 Napoleon pronounced the region the “Kingdom of Holland,” instating his brother as king. It didn’t last long—reunification came in 1815, with the sixth William of Orange at the head.

The occupation in World War II is well-known—perhaps most widely as a result of The Diary of Anne Frank. In 1945 Nazi Germany capitulated, signing their surrender to the Dutch on: Liberation Day.

The Netherlands, of course, has also been the origin of many major artists. It’s not all Rembrandt and Van Gogh. Bosch, Bruegel, Mondrian, de Kooning… It’s a feast.

Today’s poem comes from the recent anthology New European Poets. (Anyone at all interested in contemporary world poetry should buy it immediately.) Written by Nachoem E. Wijnberg, I liked the idea of a ‘psalmic’ poem to celebrate liberation.


Psalm 22

Listen.
The words I that I cry out

like

a herd,
stampeding the field,
and there is no other field.

There is a drowning horse at the bottom of a waterfall,
there is blood on half my face.

Doesn’t it distract you to listen to me
from your sure and constant loss?

But I keep an eye open for you
so that you can look through it
and look again and can think of an answer
and want to take it back like an unintended but relinquished sacrifice.

Like saying: I don’t want
to lose you.

—Nachoem E. Wijnberg
translated from the Dutch by Alissa Valles
from New European Poets