The growing fear of war is for many people an important reason to reflect on May 4th and 5th. The National Remembrance Day and Liberation Day are still considered very important. This is shown by the 2025 National Freedom Study (NVO), an annual study on views regarding freedom, remembrance, and celebration in the Netherlands. The survey has been conducted since 2020 by Centerdata on behalf of the National 4 and 5 May Committee.
In 2025, more than 1,200 members of the LISS panel completed the questionnaire. Eight out of ten panel members indicated that they consider May 4th important or even very important. The proportion of panel members who find the National Remembrance Day very important has slightly decreased compared to last year. Liberation Day is regarded as important or very important by nearly three-quarters of the respondents (73%).
Fear of war
In recent years, the fear that the Netherlands could become involved in a war has increased significantly. In 2025, as many as half of the respondents report feeling some degree of fear of war. A small number of in-depth interviews conducted this year reveal that the extent to which people are concerned can vary greatly. Although people worry more, this rarely affects their daily lives. Some interviewees stated that the current geopolitical situation gives the commemoration additional meaning.
The sense of connectedness during May 4th is also mentioned as valuable. The reasons why people reflect on the National Remembrance Day and Liberation Day have thus changed compared to previous years: more general reasons have declined, while motivations related to fear of war and contemporary conflicts have increased.
Decline in freedom
At the same time, the extent to which people experience certain freedoms is decreasing. Notably, there are significant declines in the areas of democracy, voting rights, and equal rights. Differences exist depending on the type of freedom and vary by age and ethnic background. For example, people with a non-Western background (55%) less frequently feel they can be themselves compared to people without a migration background (77%).
World War II: persecution
This year’s survey included additional questions for a specific group of people who indicated that they or their families were persecuted by the German occupiers during World War II. This was, for instance, due to Jewish heritage (40%), political beliefs (11%), and/or participation in the resistance (32%). Nearly 60% of this group believes that the story of persecution victims is well conveyed during the commemoration. A large majority of all panel members think it is a good idea for the focus on May 4th to be mainly on the victims of World War II (61%). At the same time, 52% is also open to the idea of commemorating victims of all wars worldwide.
About the National Freedom Survey
The National Freedom Survey (NVO) is a long-term monitoring study that has been conducted annually since 2001 on behalf of the National 4 and 5 May Committee. Since 2020, the questionnaire has been fielded to the representative LISS panel.
Want to know more?
The full report is available through this link:
https://www.4en5mei.nl/onderzoek/nationaal-vrijheidsonderzoek
This news article was originally posted (in Dutch) on:
