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‘1940-1945

Hear!
The free word
Threatened, stifled
Brings forth its fighters
Produces its fighters
To the death.

On 5 May 1945, the German capitulation ended five years of occupation and oppression of the Netherlands. The Hague was one of the last Dutch cities to be liberated. Many thousands of people were killed in the city and tens of thousands were driven away. It is not known exactly how many people died as a result of resistance activities. They died in camps. Or were executed immediately. Among those killed were numerous journalists.

To commemorate the journalists who died in the Second World War, sculptor Rudi Rooijackers was commissioned to design a sculpture on the occasion of the fifth anniversary of the foundation Perscentrum Nieuwspoort. The relief is made of bronze. It depicts a falling figure with a shield. This figure represents the fighting mentality of the fallen journalists, who were not willing to give up their freedom of speech, even though they knew the dangers. The fall symbolises death. To the right of the falling figure is the poem '1940-1945 Hoort!' by poet Jan de Groot.

The plaque was unveiled on 3 May 1967 by the then president of the Lower House, Mr F.J.M. van Thiel. When Nieuwspoort moved from Hofsingel to the new Lower House complex on Lange Poten in 1992, the memorial plaque went with it and was mounted on the wall next to the entrance at number ten.
Countless sculptures by Voorburg sculptor Rudi Rooijackers can be seen in The Hague and its surroundings. He was trained at the Hague Academy of Art and studied under Albert Termote, among others. Rooijackers' sculptures vary from figurative to abstract.