During this commemoration, we should not forget about the solidarity from abroad, argues Lotte Jensen, professor in Dutch Literature and Cultural History. On 7 February 1953, a group of thirty-five Danish soldiers left for the Netherlands with seventeen trucks filled with food and clothing. The leader of the Thisted convoy was my grandfather, Kai Eilskov Jensen. He did not travel himself, but he prepared the action. When his men returned to Denmark on 26 February 1953, he was waiting for them, and thanked each soldier personally. The Thisted Amtsavis, a local Danish newspaper, published a long article about it, including a picture of the convoy. My grandfather kept the clipping as a souvenir in his study. The Danish aid operation was not an isolated event. The 1953 North Sea flood unleashed an unprecedented wave of international solidarity: people around the world took the plight of the Dutch to heart. Last week marked the 70th anniversary of the ‘disaster of disasters’. On the night of 31 January to 1 February 1953, dykes broke in numerous places in the south-western Netherlands, costing 1,836 people their lives, and leaving thousands more homeless overnight. Partly due to COVID-19 measures, the commemoration of the flood has been extremely sober for the past two years, but this year, there was more interest than ever. Numerous activities have been planned, from interactive lectures on dyke safety to a flood game in schools. Also telling is the wave of interest for the TV series Het water komt (The Water Is Coming), in which presenter Winfried Baijens travels through the Zeeland landscape of his youth and talks to survivors of the flood. More than one million viewers tuned in every week. This wave of interest in the North Sea flood is more than justified, as the stories of the survivors continue to make a deep impression on people. At the same time, it remains important, every year again, to reflect on the importance of this commemoration: why do we need to pass on this knowledge to future generations? What is the current relevance of the North Sea flood? So far, the focus has been exclusively on the national context: 1953 fits into a story about the perennial struggle of the Dutch against the water. As a result, there has been little attention for the role of international solidarity, and that while this aspect is more relevant than ever. Across the border Driven by climate change, sea levels are rising, and weather extremes are increasing. To see what this can lead to, one need only look at recent floods. In the summer of 2021, a swirling mass of water swept a destructive trail through Valkenburg. Last month, residents along the Linge River suffered severe flooding. The North Sea flood reminds us of how vulnerable the Netherlands is. And yet, this is only half of the story. The Netherlands is not an isolated country; it is connected to other countries in the world. The fact that the 1953 North Sea flood still serves as one of the crucial benchmarks in Dutch history may at first seem like good news: after all, the memory of the disaster has not yet been ‘overwritten’ by some other major flood. That is until you realise what a major disaster July 2021 was for neighbouring countries. Near the Belgian town of Pepinster, less than 30 kilometres from the Dutch border, 39 people were killed, and more than 180 people died in Germany. This international perspective must be included in our commemoration. The North Sea flood was more than a national disaster. Apart from the fact that it also claimed dozens of lives in the UK and Belgium, the flood was experienced as an international catastrophe. The news went global and triggered an unprecedented wave of international solidarity. Trucks from all over Europe, loaded with clothing, kitchen utensils, blankets, building materials and boots, drove back and forth to the disaster area. Greece donated currants and lemons. Sweden and Norway donated fur coats and houses. At the embassy in Washington, people collected vacuum cleaners, refrigerators, toothpaste, and cigarettes. From Australia, the collected goods were shipped free of charge on the Holland-Australia line. One country stood out: Denmark. Danes felt called en masse to help the Dutch, who were facing another major catastrophe so soon after World War II. Under the slogan ‘Hollands-Hjaelpen’, a nationwide campaign was launched, which became an unprecedented success. Through appeals in national and local media, citizens were encouraged to contribute, from young to old. Across the country, the Red Cross opened centres, where Danes could drop off goods. There were two hundred such centres in Copenhagen alone. In no time, the Danes had donated 40 million kroner worth of money and goods. Enough money came in to ‘clothe 150,000 Dutch people from head to toe’, a journalist reported in Algemeen Dagblad. Many emphasised their sense of kinship with the Dutch. A Danish soldier said: ‘We come from a small country, but we feel like brothers and sisters to you.’ In Esbjerg, where trucks drove through the streets all day collecting clothes, a woman donated a woollen blanket with the following note attached: ‘This blanket was given to me in a concentration camp by a compassionate Dutchman. Now this blanket can return to its homeland to warm a Dutchman in need as it once warmed me.’ An emotional and poignant message that shows how strongly this woman felt the need to give something back. A 29-year-old Danish aid worker expressed the hope that the relief efforts would strengthen mutual solidarity among Europeans: ‘This disaster has in any case strengthened our sense of belonging together.’ A columnist of the Overijssels Dagblad was touched by all the charity, and observed: ‘From all the countries of the world people sent goods. I guess we are all citizens of the world.’ Disaster prevention My grandfather was always very proud of the efforts of his men. He rarely showed emotion, but spoke with great warmth about the relief efforts that were made for the affected Dutch people in 1953. Seventy years after the flood disaster, I continue to be deeply touched by the many, often heartwarming newspaper reports on the international relief efforts. Let this commemoration also be a time to reflect on the importance of international solidarity. We need this kind of solidarity not only to respond to disasters, but also to prevent them. Lotte Jensen is Professor of Dutch Cultural and Literary History at Radboud University and author of Wij en het water. Een Nederlandse geschiedenis (The water and us. A Dutch history). This article appeared earlier, in Dutch, in NRC.