Speech by Prime Minister Dick Schoof during the 80th Commemoration of the contribution of the 1st Polish Independent Parachute Brigade to Operation Market Garden
Driel, September 21, 2024

Minister Parell, Your Excellencies, Mr Baltussen, Veterans, Ladies and gentlemen,

The English writer H.G. Wells once wrote: ‘The truly brave man is not the man who does not feel fear, but the man who overcomes it.’
I agree with that.
Very few people never feel fear.
Especially in military combat, when the line between life and death is so thin.
The brave soldiers of the 1st Polish Independent Parachute Brigade certainly felt it, as they jumped from their planes on 21 September 1944.
But these heroes overcame their fear to fight for our freedom.
Freedom that has endured for 80 years.
Freedom that we must cherish and protect.

Today we remember all the Polish and other allied troops who made the ultimate sacrifice in the days surrounding the Battle of Arnhem.
We honour their memory.
And here in Driel we express our deep gratitude to the troops led by Major General Sosabowski, who risked their lives for people they didn’t know in a country that wasn’t their own.
It’s hard to imagine anything more selfless.
And it was therefore right and just to honour the Brigade’s contribution retroactively, by awarding them the Military Order of William in 2006.
Today, let us consider their example a call to action.
A call to stand firm for the freedoms and values they fought for with such dedication and determination, 80 years ago.

To the generations that have grown up since then, ‘war’ has been something that happens elsewhere.
Something that happened in the past.
Something that is over and done with.
At least: that’s what we were able to tell ourselves for a long time.
But Russia’s invasion of Ukraine revealed the truth.
Violence, terror – and yes, even war – suddenly, it’s all so close by again.
Not long ago, our Minister of Defence Ruben Brekelmans, who is here with us today, expressed this very aptly.
He said: ‘It isn’t war, but it isn’t peace either.’
That is the situation we find ourselves in since the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

For Poland – one of the countries that liberated us – it feels even closer.
That’s why it’s so essential for Poland, the Netherlands and other countries to stick together and support each other – as members of NATO and as fellow European nations.
That’s why we must stand together in opposition to aggression and violations of the rule of law.
Without hesitation or compromise.
We must.
We must, because the alternative is unthinkable.

Ladies and gentlemen: there is no better way for us today to honour these heroes of yesterday.
They stood firm for our freedom.
And we must do the same for the generations who follow us.
In grateful remembrance of those who played their part, we stand here today in freedom.

Thank you.