#Vector of Memory
Wageningen, City of Liberation
Wageningen was liberated on 17 April 1945 by troops of the British 49th Infantry Division. But nobody was there to celebrate. The city had been evacuated on 1 October 1944 and German troops had left Wageningen before the arrival of the Allies.
The capitulation of the German armies in the Netherlands, North-West Germany and Denmark was signed on 4 May 1945 on the Lüneburger Heide in Germany. From 5 May onwards, they had to follow the orders of the Allies.
The Allied orders were presented by the Canadian General Foulkes on 5 May 1945 in Hotel De Wereld to General Blaskowitz, commander of the German army in the Netherlands. Blaskowitz requested a day's postponement to gather the necessary information on the German troop strength, arms depots and ammunition stocks, among other things. The Orders to German Commanders on Surrender were therefore signed on 6 May, although the document bears the date 5 May 1945.