On Saturday, June 1st, the Sobibor Memorial Commemoration took place for the third time at the Spiegel monument ‘Sobibor – and what are you doing?’ located at Van Eeghenlaan (entrance to Vondelpark) in Amsterdam. Despite limited publicity beforehand, around 150 people gathered on this chilly June afternoon to attend the commemoration.
Prior to the official commemoration, students from Theaterschool Utrecht, in collaboration with Stichting ‘Theater Na de Dam’, performed a shortened version of their play, Het kind is niet meer, een mens is pas vergeten, als zijn naam vergeten (The child is no more, a person is only forgotten when their name is forgotten), created by theater maker Gilles Groot. Eighteen young actors delivered a poignant performance about the Jewish orphanage in Utrecht, from which many children were tragically murdered in Sobibor.
Christine Gispen-de Wied, Chair of the Sobibor Foundation, welcomed everyone and gave a meaningful speech. She reflected on how Jules Schelvis, 25 years after founding the Foundation, might have felt if he were sitting in the front row today.
Following this, three testimonies were read aloud: one from a perpetrator, one from a bystander, and one from a victim. Natascha van Weezel then read one of her recent columns from the Parool newspaper. Recently awarded the Pim Fortuyn Prize for her courage and commitment to free speech, Natascha moved the audience with a beautiful personal story. The presence of her one-year-old son Max added an extra personal touch to her narrative.
Mirjam van Dam and Ed Boekee complemented Natascha’s words with their beautiful Yiddish music.
After a solemn minute of silence, speakers and attendees placed stones at the monument. The commemoration concluded with a gathering at ‘Het Blauwe Theehuis’ in the Vondelpark, marking the end of yet another dignified, meaningful, and substantial remembrance.
