Month: February 2021

4 February 2021 – As 2020 marked the final year of the 75th anniversary of the end of World War II, the LRE Foundation is already looking towards the future and the 80th anniversary on the horizon. Mr. Ed Kronenburg will join our mission as the new chairman of the Foundation’s Supervisory Board. He has been appointed in the context of reorganization of the Foundation’s governance and board, towards a more international scope of action (further information about the composition of the board can be found here).

Ed Kronenburg has a distinguished career as a leading diplomat for the Netherlands. He was the Dutch Ambassador to Paris and Beijing and served as the Secretary General of the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He has also held top positions at international organisations such as the OECD, the European Commission, and NATO. He also served as Grand Master of Her Majesty Queen Beatrix. He has since retired from the diplomatic corps, and is currently a columnist, public speaker, member of the Advisory Council on International Affairs, and board member of other organisations.

Ed Kronenburg about his new role: “It is an honor to be associated with the LRE Foundation and especially the Liberation Route Europe initiative. The activities it undertakes and it promotes are of great historical and cultural value for all generations, bringing together young and old from various countries to convey the all-important lesson that history has taught us: the road to the future can and should only be travelled together, in harmony and peace, to confront the challenges we collectively face.”

Rémi Praud, Managing Director LRE Foundation about this appointment: “We are honored and delighted to welcome Mr. Ed Kronenburg as our new chairman. The international experience and expertise he has built up in many areas over the years will be highly valuable to the LRE Foundation’s future. It is a reunion of sorts, as he was closely involved in the organisation of the official international launch of the Liberation Route Europe, in Normandy, in June 2014, as the Dutch Ambassador to France.”

Together with its members and partners in twelve countries, the LRE Foundation is dedicated to preserving and valorising the tangible and intangible cultural heritage related to World War II, its memory and meaning. Two key LREF initiatives are Europe Remembers – the platform for remembrance events and travel throughout Europe – and the development of the Liberation Route Europe, the certified Cultural Route following in the footsteps of the Allied advance at the end of WWII.

• Press Release (PDF)

On 27 January 2021, the Liberation Route Europe Foundation became LRE Foundation. Along with the new name comes a new visual identity that better represents the core missions of our growing organisation – an inclusive network that connects people and organisations dedicated to preserving and valorising the tangible and intangible cultural heritage related to World War II, its memory and meaning.

In just a few years, the LRE Foundation has gained members in ten European countries and became full-fledged international organisation. Together with our partners, we aim to preserve and to valorise the memory, meaning, and heritage of WWII – making it relevant and accessible to everyone.

The LRE Foundation is the initiator of exciting projects such as Liberation Route Europe and Europe Remembers.

 Press release – LRE Foundation new name and visual identity

 

In the week leading up to the annual International Holocaust Remembrance Day, on 22 January, EFFORTS – the European Federation of Fortified Sites and Defence Lines, including its associate member FORTE CULTURA e.V., signed, with the LRE Foundation,  a Memorandum of Understanding, establishing the EFFORTS/ FORTE CULTURA e.V. – LRE cooperation in the remembrance of WWII detention and concentration camps in fortified heritage sites in Europe. 

Rémi Praud, managing director LRE Foundation, said this about the cooperation: “Historical military structures, baring precious testimony to the collective memory, represent  
a unique expression of Europe’s difficult heritage. Fortified heritage sites embrace Europe’s shared memory and war victims remembrance actions. The presently established cooperation gives us the opportunity to strengthen WWII intercultural and international dialogue and reconciliation, the goal of the Liberation Route Europe Foundation. The 76th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz concentration camp therefore is a moment to reflect on the past and look towards the future.”

In addition, Dr. Frank Petter, EFFORTS president and mayor of Gemeente Bergen op Zoom, commented: “WW II remembrance has become increasingly important with the passing of the last living witnesses and the need of educating Europe’s youth on WWII, its suffering and the liberation effort to free Europe from oppression. In Gemeente Bergen op Zoom, as in dozens of European cities and remembrance sites, we must keep the memory alive and I am happy that together with LRE can work together on this in the future”.

Both organisations will present to their members the possibilities of cooperation within the EFFORTS and LRE networks. As a first action, a joint conference will be organised in the fall of 2021, uniting EFFORTS and Forte Cultura, together with LRE members and other invited sites, and setting a stage for further cooperation and holocaust and war memory actions.