As a person of Dutch ancestry, and one who lived in the Netherlands and its Antilles for many years, I was naturally shocked to read and hear about the tragic events in the Dutch town of Apeldoorn yesterday.
As we all know now, a black Suzuki sped toward an open-topped bus carrying Queen Beatrix and several members of her family, narrowly missing the bus, and crashing into a monument—but not before killing five people and injuring more than a dozen others.
Initial reports indicate that this was a deliberate attack on the royal family. Dutch officials say that, while they were freeing the driver from the wrecked car, he admitted that he had deliberately aimed his car at the bus carrying the royal family.
The driver of the car, a 38-year-old Dutchman, Karst T., died in the hospital. This morning, a member of the Royal “Marechaussee” (Dutch military police), died of injuries received during the attack.
The people of the Netherlands were celebrating “Koninginnedag,” or Queen’s Day, a national holiday celebrating the birthday of the Queen of the Netherlands. A day that is supposed to be an occasion for celebrating not only the Queen’s birthday, but also national unity and “saamhorigheid,” or togetherness—a tradition that started on August 31, 1885, on the birthday of then-Princess Wilhelmina.
From my young years in the Netherlands, I remember the holiday as a joyous occasion with fairs, street markets, musical performances, dances, parties throughout the country, and the color orange everywhere, for the royal House of Oranje-Nassau. The Queen and her family would attend many festivities, participate in parades and were extremely accessible to the Dutch people.
I also remember the tolerance, friendliness, pragmatism, self-reliance, individualism, and above all the respect for the rule of law and for the rights of others exhibited by the Dutch people.
When I was young, violent crime was virtually unheard of in the Netherlands. A murder anywhere in the country would make the national news on both national TV channels and appear as a front page headline in all national newspapers.
It was perhaps because of these “memories” that the news of the Apeldoorn carnage caught me by such surprise, even though I realize that things have changed in the Netherlands, as they have all over the world, during the past 50 years.
However, I hoped that one thing had not changed: the love, respect and admiration the Dutch people had for the Queen, 50 years ago.
I have not yet read all the “analyses” and soul-searching that are sure to come from Dutch officials, pundits and, most important, the Dutch people.
I know that there have been several violent attacks on Dutch public figures in recent years, including one on filmmaker Theo van Gogh, who was killed on a Dutch street.
I know that there are political and social extremist groups and movements in the Netherlands, but I hope that the attack was in no way connected to those groups or movements.
I hope that it was an “isolated incident,” that does not reflect a sea change in Dutch culture, society or politics.
I hope that this tragedy does not mean, in a way, the loss of innocence for the Netherlands and its people.
The author is a retired U.S. Air Force officer and a writer.