June 29, 1940
Prince Bernard of the Netherlands, in exile in London, was well known for wearing a white carnation for national holidays and special occasions. On his birthday, people placed vases filled with carnations in the windows of nearly every house and store. That day, crowds of people appeared in front of a statue of Queen Wilhelmina’s mother to drop a carnation in an act of defiance against the Nazis. By the end of the day, the entire monument was covered with carnations. In response to this patriotic act, the Germans arrested two of the demonstration’s organizers.
