Amsterdam - The train stopped, the car was pulled to the side of the road, and no planes arrived or left the Netherlands for two minutes on Sunday as the country remained silent in memory of the war victims.

Since the Nazi occupation in 1945, thousands of people have gathered in Amsterdam to watch Dutch King Willem-Alexander lay a wreath in the war memorial.

The first spokesperson for the annual event was Marijn Van der Wilk, 14, who read a poem he wrote about the resistance during the war. "They are brothers, sisters, neighbors. People like you or me. They can be life-threatening when doing things. But they do it."

Prime Minister Dick Schoof discusses his family’s grief over the death of his grandfather, who was executed by Nazi soldiers for his work of resistance.

"On this day, in two minutes of silence, the echo sounds loud. When we think of all those who die of hunger or exhaustion.

On National Day, flags fly around in half of their staff in buildings across the country, military personnel and civilians have died in conflicts around the world since the outbreak of World War II. The celebrations were then held on Monday to commemorate the liberation of the country from the Nazi German occupation at the end of the war.

Not every part of the country has observed memorials. Some of the predominantly Christian areas pay tribute to the dead on Saturday to avoid damaging Sunday Sabbath.

In The Hague, hundreds of people gathered together to replace the commemoration. A group of civil servants from the organization included on May 4, the incident remembers all the victims of the conflict and is frustrated by the Dutch government's response to the Gaza conflict. According to the association's website, official activities are too restrictive. “We commemorate victims of the past and today’s victims, no matter where war, genocide, persecution or oppression occurs, when, where, when, when, where, we do not want to exclude anyone, all victims will be given a place.”

Some pro-Palestinian slogans can be seen among the crowds in Amsterdam.

Later Sunday, two veterans will light a liberation fire to begin celebrations to celebrate the 80th anniversary of the Dutch occupation. Organizers say 100-year veteran Mervyn Kersh from the UK and 101-year-old Nick Janicki from Canada will sign the flames of the central city of Wageningen in 1945 in 1945.

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Mike Corder of The Hague contributed to the report.