Press Release, Rotterdam, 17 April 2025
On Wednesday, 14 May, Erik van Loon—artist and director of Rotterdam Festivals—will open the closing day of the second international Four Days in May commemoration at Tante Nino. Following the opening, Walter Schulze, chair of the Ancestor Foundation, will deliver a lecture about the victims who perished in the Netherlands during the first days of World War II. Schulze will discuss the locations where these victims fell and highlight how relatives have coped with their loss over the years. In his lecture, he will then focus specifically on the events in and around Rotterdam. Immediately afterward, Van Loon will present the Anti-Aircraft Bombs Treaty in Rotterdam, as he previously did in Berlin (11 May) and Warsaw (12 May).
Opening
During the opening, Van Loon will share what inspired him in 2015 to annually commemorate victims of the Rotterdam bombing with a poem. He will highlight how, despite the complete lack of financial support (no donations, sponsors, funds, or subsidies) and without cooperation from the Rotterdam municipality, he strives year after year to mobilize as many Rotterdammers as possible. In 2025, to mark 85 years since the Rotterdam Bombardment, he aims to find someone at 85 street corners (approximately every 150 meters) willing to recite Bertolt Brecht’s poem Und was bekam des Soldaten Weib?. In 2015, he sought 75 people for as many locations. His dream is to gather enough people by 2040 to commemorate the victims of 100 years since the Rotterdam bombing hand-in-hand along the Brandgrens (fire boundary). He will also address the frequently asked question of why he has expanded the commemoration globally since 2024 under Four Days in May.
Lecture: Four Days in May
Walter Schulze is chair of the Ancestor Foundation, which works to map war victims and answer questions from relatives. Since 2015, he has been involved—alongside many other researchers—in systematic research into victims of the May 1940 days. Thanks to this work, nearly all names of those who died in and around Rotterdam between 10 and 14 May 1940 are now known. During his lecture, Schulze will delve deeper into the events in Rotterdam and share the personal stories of the victims and their relatives. By giving these stories a voice, he helps the public better understand what these days meant for the city and its inhabitants.
Presentation and Signing of the Anti-Aircraft Bombs Treaty
Immediately after the lecture, Van Loon—as in Berlin (11 May) and Warsaw (12 May)—will present the Anti-Aircraft Bombs Treaty in Rotterdam. The treaty advocates for a global ban on the production, storage, deployment, and transfer of aircraft bombs. Interested parties can sign the treaty at Tante Nino following the event.
Tante Nino
Van Loon chose Tante Nino due to the historical significance of the location. At the Van der Takstraat, near the building, Dutch Sergeant-Major Van Ommering was captured in an iconic 1940 photo. It shows him holding a handmade white flag shortly after the German bombardment of Rotterdam, escorting Colonel Scharroo, commander of Rotterdam’s troops, from the destroyed city center across the Oude Willemsbrug to the Noordereiland. At the site of present-day Tante Nino, Scharroo transferred command of the city to German Captain Becker. The next day, General Winkelman signed the Dutch capitulation in a school building in Rijsoord.
Further Commemorations in Rotterdam That Day
After the opening, lecture, presentation, and signing of the Anti-Aircraft Bombs Treaty, the following commemorations will take place in Rotterdam:
13:27 – 13:35 | 85th Commemorative Poem at the Fire Boundary
(85 street corners)
At 13:27, dozens of Rotterdammers—young and old, artists to entrepreneurs, homemakers to other involved citizens—will observe three minutes of silence at 85 street corners along the fire boundary. They will then recite Bertolt Brecht’s commemorative poem Und was bekam des Soldaten Weib?. The poem will be performed in Dutch and 10 other languages. Each year, we translate the poem to ensure relatives of immigrant residents, international students, and others can participate in our shared history.
15:00 – 17:00 | Fire Boundary Tour
(Start: Fire Boundary Monument, Willemskade 18)
In groups of up to 12 participants, interested individuals can join a guided bicycle tour along the 12.5-kilometer fire boundary.
19:00 – 20:00 | ‘Und was bekam des Soldaten Weib?’ Deconstructed
(Broodje Aap, Westerstraat 10)
In the evening, Erik van Loon, alongside Miguel Santos and Alain Pringels, will analyze Bertolt Brecht’s poem.
– Miguel Santos (1986) is a Rotterdam poet and co-host of PoetsClub Rotterdam. In 2016, he released the mini-series Uurtjespoëzie, a collection of poems published online. Subsequent works include several anthologies, with Blaadjes (2024) being his latest.
– Alain Pringels, based in Ghent, is a psychologist and dramaturge involved in nearly all theater productions by De Appel in Amsterdam. He is frequently consulted as a Bertolt Brecht expert in Belgium and the Netherlands.
20:00 – 21:00 | Radio Oranje
(Broodje Aap, Westerstraat 10)
DJ Okkie Vijfvinkel presents a specially curated Radio Oranje program, reflecting on the final war years using his impressive audio archive. On 13 May 1943, following the large-scale strike in Hengelo on 29 April 1943, the Dutch were ordered to surrender their radios to prevent listening to banned stations like the BBC or Radio Oranje. While some complied, a quarter of all radios went “underground.”
21:00 – 22:00 | Open Stage Rotterdam
(Location: De Boeg, Leuvehoofd)
As in Berlin and Warsaw, the evening concludes with an open stage at the National Monument for the Merchant Navy. Participants may share anti-war and peace-themed poems, songs, and stories.
Berlin – Warsaw – Hengelo
Berlin – 11 May
On Sunday, six commemorations will take place in Berlin. The opening and panel discussion Stop Bombings Now (09:00–10:00) will be held at the Anti-Kriegsmuseum. Following the discussion, the German Anti-Aircraft Bombs Treaty will be presented (10:00–11:00), with signing opportunities. After a short lunch, participants can join the Poetry Cycle (13:00–15:00), cycling from Checkpoint Charlie via the Holocaust Memorial, Brandenburg Gate, Reichstag, Berliner Ensemble, to the Brecht-Weigel-Haus. There, they will attend Helene Weigel’s 125th Birthday (15:00–18:00), organized by the Bertolt Brecht Archive and Literatur Forum am Brecht-Haus. Later, the Berliner Ensemble will host the Helene Weigel Tribute (18:30–21:00). The day closes with an Open Stage (21:00–22:00) near Bertolt Brecht’s statue for anti-war and peace-themed performances.
Warsaw – 12 May
On Monday, participants will take the Poetry Train (5:51–11:10) from Berlin Hauptbahnhof to Warsaw Zachodnia. After lunch, they will visit the Warsaw Uprising Museum for a lecture on the devastating Black Monday bombings of 25 September 1939 (13:00–14:00). The Polish Anti-Aircraft Bombs Treaty will then be presented, followed by a guided tour on the heroic Warsaw Uprising (14:00–15:00). At 15:00, they will cycle to the POLIN Museum to learn about the inhumane conditions of the Warsaw Ghetto (16:00–17:00). The evening lecture at the Adam Mickiewicz Literature Museum focuses on the legacy of influential Polish theater director Konrad Swinarski (20:00–21:00), who died exactly 50 years ago. The day concludes with an Open Stage (21:00–22:00) along the old city walls.
Hengelo – 13 May
On Tuesday, participants will take the Poetry Train (7:00–18:10) from Warsaw Centralna to Hengelo Station. A Poetry Walk (18:15–20:00) will guide them through the city, devastated in 1944 and 1945, with local poets reciting Four Days in May works. Before boarding the Poetry Train back to Rotterdam, they will visit St. Lambertus Basilica to light candles for the 107 victims of the 42 bombings Hengelo endured after October 1944.
Bertolt Brecht
Bertolt Brecht (10 February 1898, Augsburg – 14 August 1956, East Berlin) was a revolutionary German playwright, poet, and theater director. After Adolf Hitler’s rise to power in 1933, he fled Nazi Germany, living in exile across Europe—including Denmark, Sweden, and Finland—before fleeing to the United States in 1941. In Santa Monica, California, he wrote some of his most famous plays and poems, including Und was bekam des Soldaten Weib?.
More information and registration:
Erik van Loon, Rotterdamse Festivals
Website: www.14mei.nl
Email: stichting14mei@gmail.com
Phone: +316 3826 5666