AANSPRAAK JUNE 2010 Selected articles in English translation © Pensioen- en Uitkeringsraad - Aanspraak, June 2010 1 Contents The page numbers refer to the original Dutch edition Page 3 Mag ik u even aanspreken? Speaking for your benefit Page 5 Toespraak Minister-President Jan Peter Balkenende, 4 mei 2010 Speech by the Dutch Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende, 4 May 2010 Page 22 Vraag & antwoord Question & Answer Page 22 Afscheid Staatssecretaris Jet Bussemaker Jet Bussemaker leaves her post as State Secretary No rights may be derived from this text. Translation: SVB, Amstelveen . © Pensioen- en Uitkeringsraad - Aanspraak, June 2010 2 Page 3 Mag ik u even aanspreken? Speaking for your benefit The Dutch military cemetery at Leuwigajah is situated in Cimahi, near Bandung. To reach it, we have to drive down a bumpy, sandy road covered in potholes full of water. It is still the rainy season and a heavy downpour has left its mark. As we turn into the cemetery car park, I can see the Dutch flag some way off, behind the local cemetery. The flag marks a military cemetery containing more than 5000 graves, immaculately tended by the Netherlands War Graves Foundation. Before us stretch endless rows of white crosses, many with a name, many others simply designated “unknown”, a few marked with a Star of David. The children’s graves are at the furthest end. I let my eyes wander, first over the cemetery, then over the magnificent countryside surrounding this memorial to the hardships and cruelties of the Japanese occupation. The following day, we visit the Ursuline Convent in Bandung. One of the Sisters guides us through the building, which now serves as a school. She tells us about the frequent visits they receive from people who were internees during the Japanese occupation, when the convent was used as an internment camp. The powerful emotions that inevitably surface during these visits sometimes help to heal the visitor. The Netherlands War Graves Foundation organizes regular trips to Indonesia for interest groups and the family members of those who were killed. Of course these trips, which include a visit to the military cemetery, cannot be easy. But to anyone who has ever stood at Leuwigajah, it is clear that history must be given a real place, and not just a metaphorical one. Ronald Leopold General secretary / Director © Pensioen- en Uitkeringsraad - Aanspraak, June 2010 3 Page 5 Toespraak Minister-President Jan Peter Balkenende, Nationale herdenking op de Dam 4 mei 2010 Speech by the Dutch Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende, Remembrance Day, Amsterdam, 4 May 2010 The courageous woman who helped Anne Frank and those in hiding with her, passed away just a few months ago. Her name was Miep Gies. Miep was there for others in their greatest hour of need, at the risk of her own life. She could not accept that her Jewish fellow citizens should be ostracized, persecuted and murdered for simply being themselves. Later, she wrote: ‘I am not a hero. (…) My story is the story of perfectly ordinary people in exceptional and terrible times, times that I fervently hope will never occur again. It is up to ordinary people all over the world to make sure of that.’ We are those ordinary people. We are the ones who keep the memory of all Dutch victims alive. The memory of defenceless citizens who died as a result of persecution, privation and violence, of brave men and women who lost their lives in the Resistance, and of all members of the armed forces who made the ultimate sacrifice, then and since. On 4 May, we remember them. And we will continue to do so. In silence. With deep respect. They will always live in our hearts. Today, it is 65 years since the most terrible period in Dutch history came to an end. Since then, we have lived in freedom. And we stand here in the realisation that we are responsible for cherishing and defending that freedom, and that we can only be free when those around us are also free. Here in the Netherlands, and wherever else people are repressed by violence and deprived of their freedom. In the same way that Miep Gies acted to help her Jewish fellow citizens when they needed it. In her memoires, she wrote ‘I am just an ordinary person’. And: ‘I was just ready to do what was required and seemed necessary at the time.’ That is our task also. It is our duty to the people we commemorate today. We must not turn our heads from injustice and repression. Freedom and responsibility are choices we have to make. Every day of our lives. © Pensioen- en Uitkeringsraad - Aanspraak, June 2010 4 Page 22 Vraag & antwoord Question & Answer I read something in your magazine about a legislative proposal to transfer the PUR schemes to the SVB. Could you explain what has been happening? The transfer of the schemes and concomitant responsibilities of the PUR and the SVB have been set out in a special Act known as the Implementation Act for Benefit Schemes for Former Members of the Resistance and Victims of War (Wuvo). In April 2010 the Act was approved by the Dutch Upper House, having already been passed by the Lower House. The Wuvo provides the basis for implementing the benefit schemes in 2011 and subsequent years. The Wuvo, which will come into effect on 1 January 2011, is limited to the application and implementation of the benefit schemes for former members of the resistance and victims of war. There will be no changes to the Extraordinary Pension Acts (Wbp), the Victims of Persecution 1940-1945 Benefit Act (Wuv) and the Civilian War Victims 1940-1945 Benefit Act. The full text of the Wuvo Act is available on our website. I would like to compliment you on your magazine, but will we be able to enjoy it in future? Thank you for your positive feedback. We can assure you that our client magazine, Aanspraak, will continue to be sent every quarter, free of charge, to clients, claimants and anyone else who is interested. I receive a supplementary allowance under Article 19 of the Wubo Act. Will this allowance still be tax free after the SVB starts paying it? The Sociale Verzekeringsbank will abide by the same rules as the Pension and Benefit Board as far as taxable or non-taxable amounts are concerned. © Pensioen- en Uitkeringsraad - Aanspraak, June 2010 5 Page 22 Afscheid Staatssecretaris Jet Bussemaker Jet Bussemaker leaves her post as State Secretary Jet Bussemaker was State Secretary for the outgoing government at the Dutch Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport. In this post, which she held from 22 February 2007 to 23 February 2010, she was responsible for policy concerning former members of the resistance and victims of war. Following the fall of the Dutch government on 20 February 2010, the former State Secretary of Health, Welfare and Sport took formal leave of all associated organizations and interest groups on 13 April 2010 in The Hague. In her farewell speech she stressed that she had been very happy to work in the interests of this special group and regretted that circumstances had prevented her from seeing her work through to the end. She felt a close affinity with this group because of her family background. Her paternal grandfather had been a naval officer in the Dutch East Indies during the Second World War, while her maternal grandfather had been one of a group of doctors who had resisted the collaboration of the Dutch medical establishment with the Nazis. A delegation from the Client Council of the Pension and Benefit Board was present for the farewell speech. They thanked the State Secretary for her commitment to their cause, and for her efforts to improve care for former members of the resistance and victims of war. © Pensioen- en Uitkeringsraad - Aanspraak, June 2010 6 .