We proudly present the third edition of our online magazine LibRE. Read everything about:
For the English version: click HERE
The Dutch version can be found HERE
We are delighted to share our first US Newsletter with you. The newsletter is part of what we call ‘Liberation Route Europe’s 75th Anniversary Commemoration Initiative’: a project to create more awareness in the US and aiming to get funding for projects of Liberation Route Europe too.
Read the newsletter HERE:
With our continuously growing international remembrance trail, the Liberation Route Europe connects WWII heritage organisations across Europe with museums, press, schools, regional and national governments, the travel trade industry, and more, consequently creating a large international network. Together we work on the important task of keeping the memory of the Second World War alive. Now, and in the future.
In 2018 we will organise the second edition of the Liberation Route Europe Annual Conference in Brussels. In order to conclude the past year and reflect on what has been achieved, as well as to envisage the future with the horizon of 2019-2020, we would like to invite you to our annual event on Thursday the 1st of February 2018. Please find the invitation at the bottom of this post.
The event will be divided into two parts:
More detailed information about the program and location will follow in the beginning of January. In the meantime, we would like to ask you to register if you would like to attend the event.
Please send the following information to event@liberationroute.com:
For any questions regarding the events, please contact project manager Femke Kurstjens for more information / f.kurstjens@liberationroute.com / +31(0)481 366 266.
We sincerely hope that you will be able to attend.
With kind regards,
Team Liberation Route Europe
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Dozens of international Tour Operators, journalists and others attended an introduction event for our ‘Europe Remembers 1944-1945’ campaign last week at the World Travel Market in London. The kick-off event was organised to present the travel trade activities of the project. Through our combined efforts, we can honour and reflect on the defining historical events throughout Europe, and further promote the cultural heritage sites and remembrance tourism in general. During the kick-off we further introduced the project, elaborated on the campaign activities and explained how Europe Remembers can be used by the travel trade industry.
With the years 2019 and 2020 fast approaching, we are heading towards the very important momentum of the 75th anniversary of the end of WWII. With the number of living veterans getting smaller every day, it is more important than ever to honour their sacrifice before they pass away. We expect only a few veterans to be alive in the next jubilee year (2024-2025). Therefore, the significant milestone of the 75th anniversary is the perfect opportunity to renew the collective commitment to continue sharing their legacy, reflect on it and fully appreciate the peace they fought for.
Numerous commemorations and related events will take place in the different countries concerned to remember the 75th anniversary of the end of WWII. We expect large numbers of visitors will be willing to travel to and within Europe to attend this milestone. The Liberation Route Europe Foundation has the ambition to coordinate, facilitate and organise an international awareness and remembrance tourism campaign to honour, remember, reflect and inspire. This project is called: Europe Remembers 1944-1945.
The campaign will be unique in its scope and will target both B2B and B2C, aiming to reach +25 million (potential) visitors. This project will operate in all the countries already connected to the Liberation Route Europe, which are the United Kingdom, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Germany, Poland, Italy, the United States of America, and Canada. Of course, all other countries are more than welcome to join us in this global initiative! Find out more about the campaign at www.europeremembers.com.
Watch a recap video of the event: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F-EFq-If0Hs&feature=youtu.be
In front of many guests, the Liberation Route Europe Foundation organized a charity dinner in Washington DC earlier on this week. The dinner was hosted by the French embassy. The charity event was used to launch the 75th Anniversary Commemoration Campaign.
This American campaign is to raise funds for the development of the international Liberation Route Europe Hiking Trail, for the further development and expansion of Liberation Route Europe, as well as the development of ‘Europe Remembers 1944-1945’, an international awareness campaign for the 75th anniversary of the end of WWII.
Among the honored speakers were the world renowned architect Daniel Libeskind and James ‘Maggie’ Megellas (picture), the most decorated WWII officer who was part of the American 82nd Airborne Division during the war. Last week, another charity dinner was organised in New York, hosted by the Consul General of the Netherlands.
More about Europe Remembers 1944-1945 can be found on https://www.europeremembers.com
A Liberation Route Europe Foundation (LREF) delegation will be heading to the United States once again in mid-October. The goal is to mobilize support for ‘Europe Remembers’. The visit also aims to stimulate fundraising for Liberation Route Europe and its activities. On the 18th of October, a gala dinner will be organized in New York for a number of invited guests. This dinner is hosted by the Dutch Consul General.
Another important charity gala dinner will take place on the 23rd of October in Washington DC in the presence of several ambassadors, hosted by the French Embassy (Maison Française). Among the speakers are WWII veteran Colonel James ‘Maggie’ Megellas and Daniel Libeskind. He is the architect of several world famous buildings and museums, including the ‘One World Trade Center’, rebuilt on the site of the original WTC in New York.
From the 11th till the 13th of October, a kick-off meeting is scheduled for a European project in which Liberation Route Europe Foundation (LREF) participates. History Through Their Eyes, or EYES, is a project supported by the Europe for Citizens programme of the European Union. The project contributes to citizens’—and especially the youth’s—understanding of what happened during the Second World War and the construction of the European Union. By stimulating debate, reflection and collaborating with organisations, schools, and local governments, History Through Their Eyes will raise awareness on remembrance and common history and values, and draw lessons from the past to apply to the present.
LREF, as initiator of the EYES project, will take the coordinating role. We will work together with a consortium of five European to create a transnational framework to involve youth in remembering the Second World War and making them aware of the importance of European citizenship.
EYES is an initiative of Liberation Route Europe Foundation, Région Normandie, AlliiertenMuseum, Asbl Tourisme, Culture & Patrimoine, Bastogne War Museum and the Municipality of Nijmegen. The project is financially supported by Europe for Citizens.
In October, Liberation Route Europe will organize a press trip themed ‘Battle of the Scheldt’. At the end of 1944, this battle took place in the Dutch provinces of Zeeland and the western part of Brabant, as well as the area of Antwerp (Belgium). With a small group of international media representatives, we will visit several historical locations as well as museum and commemorations that are related to the Battle of the Scheldt. The trip starts at the 20th of October and will last until the 23rd of October. The costs for travel and stay can be paid by Liberation Route Europe Foundation. If you are interested in participating, please contact press officer Jeroen van Wieringen: j.vanwieringen@liberationroute.com.
Below you will find a first draft of the program:
Friday 20
Morning – (Arrival at Schiphol and) transfer to Zeeland
Afternoon – Welcome by province of Zeeland at Middelburg
Afternoon – Visit landing beaches Zeeland
Afternoon – Visit Sloedam
Afternoon – Transfer to hotel Zeeland
Afternoon – Check-in hotel
Evening – Dinner at hotel or other place in Zeeland
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Saturday 21
Morning – Check-out hotel and transfer to Liberation Museum
Morning – Visit Liberation Museum
Afternoon – Transfer to Fort Breendonk (1 hour 5 minutes), Belgium
Afternoon – Visit Fort Breendonk and surroundings
Afternoon – Transfer to Bergen op Zoom
Evening – Check-in hotel and dinner Bergen op Zoom
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Sunday 22
Morning – Check-out hotel and visit commemoration at Bergen op Zoom
Afternoon – Lunch
Afternoon – Visit war cemeteries Bergen op Zoom
Afternoon – Visit Brabantse Wal (Black Friday)
Evening – Dinner
Evening – Transfer to hotel and check-in
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Monday 23
Morning – Check-out hotel and transfer to Schiphol
Afternoon – Departure – end of press trip
Proudly we can announce that the D-Day Museum and Overlord Embroidery in Portsmouth (UK) has become an official member of LRE. The D-Day Museum is now undergoing a complete refurbishment and is not open to the public. This is part of an £4.9 million transforming the D-Day Museum project, assisted by the Heritage Lottery Fund. Read more about this exciting project here. The Museum will re-open in spring 2018, with completely new displays about D-Day and the Battle of Normandy, told through the stories of those who took part.
“We are very happy that the museum is now officially part of Liberation Route Europe”, states LRE director Victoria van Krieken. “Not only historically seen the museum fits really well within the route, but it also matches with our aims to expand in the UK towards the important remembrance years 2019 and 2020.”
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