The United States removed two information plaques, one of which was about apartheid, honoring the memory of black soldiers who contributed to the liberation of the Netherlands during World War II, from the Margarten military cemetery, located in the south of the Dutch territory, where nearly 200 of these soldiers lie. The American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC), which is responsible for the site, justified this by noting that one of the plaques will be displayed in other military cemeteries in the United States – there are 26 along with 31 memorials and tombstones – spread across 17 countries. Another poster, this one that explained racial segregation in the U.S. military during that war, was removed from that rotation, after that committee deemed the information in it was “interpretive,” the ABMC says in an email to this newspaper.
However, local authorities fear that the measure is a response to the White House’s campaign against diversity, equality and inclusion, and are requesting that the committees be replaced. The plaques were located at the Margarten Visitor Center, where the story of the fallen soldiers was told, the first commemorating George H. Pruitt, who died in 1945, at the age of 23, while trying to rescue a comrade in a river in Germany. The second explained the policy of racial segregation that prevailed in the American army until its abolition in 1948.
For this reason, despite recruiting a million soldiers, black soldiers usually performed support functions, or, as in that cemetery, as gravediggers for their comrades. Most of the time, they received mutilated bodies and worked in terrible conditions of cold, rain, and mud.
This second panel included the words of Private Jefferson Wiggins, who served in the fall of 1944 as a first sergeant in the 960th Quartermaster Company. He said his black comrades were “crying and in shock” as they dug graves. In 1945 he was commissioned a first lieutenant and became one of the first black officers in the United States Army.
In its email response to this newspaper’s questions, ABMC confirms the withdrawal of that panel on racism in the following terms: “Based on an internal review of interpretive content conducted by the former ABMC Secretary, the agency in March withdrew one panel that featured a quote from 1st Lt. Jefferson Wiggins, an African American soldier who survived the war.”
The American Committee stated in its letter to EL PAÍS that the Margraten Visitor Center “contains 15 military magnetic plaques, designed to be removed and rotated throughout the exhibition.” This way, he continues, “as many individual stories are highlighted as possible.” Four of these paintings, the letter continues, “depict African-American soldiers buried in the cemetery, and the painting assigned to Technician Fourth Class George H. Pruitt is not on display, although it remains part” of the rotating exhibit of fallen American soldiers.
Programs aimed at diversity and equality in the United States have suffered major cuts by President Donald Trump, and the trend has trickled down to the Pentagon and the military. The decrees affected federal agencies and departments, but also affected public procurement for companies considering comprehensive standards.
Shock in the country
Dutch historian Kees Ribbens is not convinced by the US explanations. On the contrary, it seems that for the current US administration of President Donald Trump, “the memory of apartheid may not be welcome.” In his opinion, it would be bad “if Trump wants to rewrite the history of World War II, because this war is European too,” he says in a phone conversation. Ribbens, a senior researcher at the Institute for the Study of War, Holocaust and Genocide, confirms that residents of the cemetery and nearby towns don’t just bring flowers to the graves. Since 1945, many families have adopted it and made sure it is in perfect condition in gratitude for the liberation of the country. For this reason, the cemetery and deceased soldiers are naturally part of the social fabric, and the removal of the panels caused an uproar. The same expert indicates that what happened may be an attempt – by the United States – to present history “in a non-critical way that may be considered undivisive.” But if so, this “will not contribute to improving our understanding of the complex and dark past,” he asserts.
The visitor center opened in December 2023, initially showing a film in which black soldiers appear for just a moment while digging graves. However, it is not mentioned that they built the Margarten Cemetery or how they were treated due to apartheid. The then US Ambassador to the Netherlands, Shefali Razdan Dugal – during President Joe Biden’s term – was informed of the situation, and in 2024 ABMC added information reflecting the work of these soldiers.
This Monday, Alan Krignin, mayor of Eijsden-Margarten, the municipality that includes the cemetery, sent a memo to the ABMC asking it to reconsider removing the plaques, and to pay “constant attention to the stories of African-American soldiers.” He also hopes to meet with the new US Ambassador Joseph Popolo to discuss the issue. For their part, eleven regional parties have described the situation as “inappropriate and unacceptable” and are raising the possibility of erecting a memorial to black soldiers outside the cemetery.
The Margaretten Cemetery was established in 1944, and was later transferred on permanent loan to the US government, which manages it. About 8,300 American soldiers who fell during the liberation of southeastern Netherlands are buried there. The names of another 1,722 people, officially considered missing, are also displayed at the site, according to ABMC. Among those troops were 174 African American soldiers, according to data from the Dutch Black Liberators Research Project. Dutch newspaper Norwegian Refugee Council He warned that the two paintings had to be put down without publicity a few months ago. The Netherlands remained occupied throughout the war and was completely liberated on May 5, 1945. That day is considered a national holiday in the country.
About The Author
