Memorial Day in US and other countries

[leo]

Here, in the US< we recently observed Memorial Day. This was originally called Decoration Day and was meant to honor the Union dead in the American Civil War. It is now intended that we honor the dead of all our wars.

What are the dates and history of this type of memorial day in other countries?

Do Germany and Austria still have Helden gedanktag?

[Reinout]

Leo,

We in the Netherlands commemorate our dead on the 4th of May. We commonly keep a minute's silence starting at 20:00 hrs. The next day we celebrate our liberation.

Both days are used to cover the festivities and commemorations for both theatres of war (for the Netherlands, the East Indies was the second one of course) despite the difference in the enddates of the hostilities. The East Indies are also remembered on different days by the ones who have suffered from that era (many are still about) including the veterans of the Police Actions in the late fourties. While they celebrate in their own time, there is no national day for it. WWII and the Police Actions are the only wars the Netherlands still remembers annually. No special days or services for the Eighty Years Insurrection or the Napoleonic Wars. In fact none of those casualties are commemorated.

If you have any other questions, I'll be happy to comply.

Kind regards,

Reinout

Leo

Heldengedenktag was a Nazi erinnerungtag. It is no longer here. We now have Volkstrauertag which comes in November. It honors all who died in war.

In the U.K. we have Remembrance Sunday celebrated on the Sunday nearest to November 11th every year, with two minutes silence at 11am to commemorate the date and time of the 1918 armistice. originally it was always the 11th itself that was celebrated, but that seems to have got in the way of free-flowing commerce, etc.
Recently though, the two minutes silence has started to make a come-back on the 11th itself.
Remembrance Sunday remembers the dead of both World Wars and of all conflicts the British have been in since, such as Korea,The Falklands, The Gulf,and Northern Ireland.

France and Belgium also celebrate the 11th November for the same reason we do.
Hope that helps.

G'day Leo,
In Australia we have ANZAC Day, which is held on the 25th of April. That date was the day that the ANZAC's hit the shores of Gallipoli. We traditionally have a dawn service, followed by the old diggers marching down city streets. The day honours veterans and the mates they left behind from all wars. On a hopeful note, although the ranks of returned service men dwindle every year, the number of spectators at the march in Sydney grows every year, especially the amount of younger people who come to cheer these brave men.

I sincerely doubt that the original American "Decoration Day" was to honor Union Dead, since it was first organized by the Daughters of the Confederacy.

[mike_baram]

Israel has two memorial days. Holocaust Remembrance Day, and a week later Memorial Day for IDF members. Since they use a lunar calendar, the days can fall anytime from mid-April to mid-May.

Canada observes Remembrance Day each year on November 11th. It is typically accompanied by a service in Ottawa, and parades around the country. Veterans groups (the Royal Canadian Legion) sell plastic poppies that you wear as a pin. Different parts of the country observe the day differently. At least when I emigrated, the Western provinces treated it as a holiday, with schools, most businesses, etc. closed. In Ontario and Quebec it was generally business as usual, pretty much. Current Canadians ... has this changed?

Graham

In Germany we have the Volkstrauertag to remember the dead caused by WAR and FORCE (in general) - we still have the Totensonntag (Death's sunday) in November, too, which was originally made up to remember the fallen soldiers of the German Free War - against Napoleon I.

We neither celebrate the 11th November nor the 8th May. The latter is interessting in its name: some call the 8th May 1945 the "Day of the Kapitulation" others "The Day of Freedom" - it has to do with the point of view of each person.

Further to what Andrew said ANZAC Day is a Public Holiday. We do have Rememberance Day services etc. on November 11 but ANZAC Day is the prime day of reflection.

Is Memorial Day in the US a Public Holiday?