The Waalsdorpervlakte (pronounced /Wals–dorpar–vlahkta/) is a flat, sandy area in a nature preserve located north of the city of The Hague, the political capital of the Netherlands. This is where the Nazis executed more than 250 Resistance Fighters, starting with Ernst Cahn, the Jewish co-owner of Koco, the ice cream parlor which Kairos and Edeline Adler visited right before the war started.

As a child growing up in the Netherlands, I have clear memories of the solemnity of the commemorations on the Day of Remembrance; on May 4th at 8 PM sharp, it seemed like time itself stopped. For just one eternal minute, everyone in the nation surrendered to Chronos. Frozen in immobility and silence, those who remembered still mourned–even decades later.

A huge Bourdon bell was erected at what had become a monument after the war. The rim of the bell bears words by Professor Cleveringa, the Leiden Law professor who spoke out against the Nazis in a speech that condemned the banning of Jewish colleagues and galvanized students to resist.

As a child, I remember that the dark silhouettes of the bell and the dunes against the soft, orange glow of the last rays of sun were immensely solemn. Already, the cold chill of night took over. The only thing to be heard was the wind and a deep, dark silence that seeped into the soul until the gargantuan Bourdon bell started tolling, releasing the pent-up grief of unshed tears for the deceased who had given their lives to defend freedom and democracy.

See: https://denhaag.com/en/waalsdorpervlakte