Every 4th of May, there is a national moment of silence in the Netherlands from 8 PM to 8:02 PM. For two minutes, the entire country comes to a standstill. No trains, trams, or buses are left running, television and radio stations end their programming, and everybody stops where they are.
I was with my neighbor Maja in the Dam Square in Amsterdam during those two minutes. To be in a crowd of 20,000 people in the busiest city of the Netherlands, and hear not even a single whisper — that was special. Nobody was told what to do. Everybody already knew.
Only the birds were still moving.
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King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima walked out of the Royal Palace, and towards the pillar. People craned their necks and stood on the tips of their toes just to get a peek.
