Press Release, Rotterdam, 17 April 2025
On Wednesday, 14 May, Erik van Loon of Rotterdamse Festivals will, for the eleventh consecutive year, organize the 14 May Commemoration. During this event, participants from all over the Netherlands and this year for the first time also from Poland, Germany and Switzerland will gather at an increasing number of street corners along the fire line to recite a different memorial poem each year. This year, the victims of the bombing of Rotterdam—and of bombings worldwide—will be commemorated for the second time through the international commemoration “Four Days In May.” In 2024, victims of bombings were remembered worldwide in Rome, Zürich, Paris, and Rotterdam with the poem Vision Of Rotterdam by American poet Gregory Corso. This year, in Berlin, Warsaw, and Rotterdam, victims of bombings across the globe will be honored with the poem Und Was Bekam Des Soldaten Weib? by Bertolt Brecht.
“Four Days In May” – International Commemoration
The international commemoration event “Four Days In May” originated in 2024 from the annual 14 May Commemoration at the fire line in Rotterdam. The aim of this initiative is that, each year from 10 to 14 May, not only the victims of the bombing in Rotterdam are remembered but also those in other cities around the world.
Programme
Berlin – 11 May
- Six Commemorations: “Four Days In May” starts this year in Berlin with an opening at the Anti‑Kriegsmuseum. This is followed by ao a special poetry cycling tour: starting at Checkpoint Charlie, passing by the Brandenburg Gate and the Reichstag, and ending at the Brecht‑Weigel‑Haus. There, participants, at the Literatur Forum in the Brecht Haus and the Berliner Ensemble, take part in the jubilee programme celebrating 125 years of Helene Weigel—the widow of Bertolt Brecht.
Warsaw – 12 May
- Six Commemorations: The day opens with two lectures. The first lecture highlights the four major bombings of Warsaw in September 1939, while the second, held at the Polin Museum, focuses on the Warsaw Ghetto uprising (from 19 April to 16 May 1943). The evening, as in Berlin, concludes with an open stage where peace and anti‑war poems, songs, and stories are presented.
Hengelo – 13 May
- One Commemoration: On the return journey from Warsaw to Rotterdam, the Poetry Train will make a brief stop in Hengelo. From 18:15 to 20:00, participants will join a short walking tour led by historian Hans de Gruil through Hengelo, a city that was bombed no less than 43 times. The walk starts at the April–May Strikes Monument at the rear of the station and continues—passing, among others, the former Stork Association building—toward the heavily affected city centre of Hengelo, including a visit to the Hengelo Museum. Before boarding the train once more, participants are invited to light a candle at the St. Lambertus Basilica in memory of the 107 casualties that fell during these devastating bombardments since October 1943.
Rotterdam – 14 May
- 10:00 – 11:00: Lecture “Four Days In May” (Location: Tante Nino, Van der Takstraat 102b) Walter Walter Schulze from Stichting Voorouder will this year put a face to the civilian and military victims of the battle for Rotterdam. This battle lasted from 10 to 14 May 1940 and culminated in the devastating bombing of the city. The names of 1,173 victims have now been confirmed, of which 711 lost their lives on 14 May during the bombardment.
- 11:00 – 12:00: Presentation of the “Anti-Aircraft Bombs Treaty” (Location: Tante Nino, Van der Takstraat 102b) The world’s first draft of an Anti-Aircraft Bombs Treaty will be presented. This treaty calls for a global ban on the production, storage, use, and transfer of aircraft bombs. Interested participants can sign the treaty at Tante Nino until midnight on 14 May. This particular location was chosen because it is the site of the famous photograph of Dutch Sergeant-Major Van Ommering holding a self-made white flag. In that image, taken shortly after the centre of Rotterdam had been destroyed by the German air force, he is seen guiding Rotterdam’s commander, Colonel Scharroo, from the rubble of the city centre over the Oude Willemsbrug to Noordereiland to transfer command to the German Captain Becker.
- 13:27 – 13:35: 85th Memorial Poem at the Fire Line (85 Street Corners) At 13:27, dozens of Rotterdam residents—young and old, from artists to entrepreneurs, and homemakers to other community members—will observe three minutes of silence at 85 locations along the fire line. This will be followed by the recitation of the memorial poem Und Was Bekam Des Soldaten Weib?. In most locations the poem will be recited in Dutch, but on 14mei.nl you can find versions performed in the original German language or one of ten other languages. We translate the poem every year so that family members of immigrants, international students, and others can take part in our shared history.
- 15:00 – 17:00: Fire Line Tour (Starting Point: Fire Line Monument, Willemskade 18) In groups of up to 12 participants, those interested can join a guided cycling tour along the 12.5 km-long fire line.
- 19:00 – 20:00: “Und Was Bekam Des Soldaten Weib?” – Poem Analysis (Location: To Be Announced) In the evening, Erik van Loon, together with Miquel Santos and Alain Pringels, will analyze the poem by Bertolt Brecht. Miquel Santos is a well-known Rotterdam writer and poet. In 2013, he wrote striking columns for the then-young Rotterdam platform Bogue.nl. . Together with Jeroen Naaktgeboren, he is one of the leading figures of Poetsclub Rotterdam—established in 2004 by former city poets Daniel Dee and Jeroen Naaktgeboren. He has since published 13 volumes. Alain Pringels, who resides in Ghent, is a psychologist. He works as a dramaturge on nearly all theatre productions by De Appel in Amsterdam and is regularly consulted as an expert on Bertolt Brecht in both Belgium and the Netherlands.
- 20:00 – 21:00: Radio Oranje (Location: To Be Announced) Ronald Vonk presents a specially curated Radio Oranje programme in which he reflects on the final years of the war using his impressive audio archive. On 13 May 1943, following the great strike in Hengelo on 29 April 1943, the Dutch learned that all radios had to be surrendered. This measure was taken to prevent people from listening to banned stations such as the BBC or Radio Oranje. While some Dutch citizens complied with the order, one in four radios ended up in the underground.
- 21:00 – 22:00: Open Stage Rotterdam (Location: De Boeg, Leuvehoofd) As in Berlin and Warsaw, the evening concludes with an open stage. Here, at the National Monument for the Merchant Fleet, participants are invited to recite anti-war and peace poems, songs, and stories.
Background
Erik van Loon, director of Rotterdamse Festivals, has organized this unique 14 May Commemoration in Rotterdam annually since 2015. During the event, citizens recite a memorial poem at an increasing number of street corners along the fire line. This commemoration began as a protest against the fire line fun run held on 14 May 2015. On that day, the Mayor of Rotterdam had granted permission to 1,800 runners to run over, through, and along sites where hundreds died and thousands were wounded. Since then, we have strived each year to remember the victims at more and more street corners along the fire line, so that, hand in hand, we may commemorate the victims in Rotterdam—and, since 2024, also in other cities around the world.
EXTRA
Bertolt Brecht Bertolt Brecht (10 February 1898, Augsburg – 14 August 1956, East Berlin) was a revolutionary German playwright, poet, and theatre director. After Adolf Hitler seized power in 1933, he fled Nazi Germany and went into exile throughout Europe—including in Denmark, Sweden, and Finland—before escaping to the United States in 1941. He settled in Santa Monica, California, where he wrote some of his best-known 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: +31 6 3826 5666