Two information plaques honoring the memory of black soldiers who helped liberate the Netherlands during World War II, one of them on racism, have been removed by the United States from the Margraten military cemetery in the southern part of the Netherlands, where about 200 black soldiers are buried. The American War Monuments Commission (ABMC), which manages the site, justified this by pointing out that one of the panels will be displayed at other military cemeteries in the United States (there are 26, along with 31 monuments and headstones) across 17 countries. ABMC said in an email to this newspaper that another poster describing racial discrimination within the U.S. military during the war was removed from rotation because the committee deemed the information it contained to be “interpretive.”
But local officials are calling for the panels to be replaced, fearing the move is a counterbalance to the White House’s campaign against diversity, equality and inclusion. These plaques are located at the Margraten Visitor Center, where the stories of fallen soldiers are told, the first remembered being George H. Pruitt, who died at age 23 in 1945 while trying to save a comrade in a river in Germany. The second explained the racist policies that were prevalent in the U.S. Army until it was abolished in 1948.
Because of this, and even though a million men enlisted, black soldiers usually worked in support jobs or, like in that cemetery, as fellow gravediggers. In most cases, they received dismembered bodies and worked in harsh conditions of cold, rain, and mud.
This second plaque included a quote from Private First Class Jefferson Wiggins, who served as a sergeant first class in the 960th Quartermaster Company in the fall of 1944. He said his black colleagues were “crying and traumatized” as they dug the grave. He was commissioned a lieutenant in 1945, becoming one of the first black officers in the U.S. Army.
In an email response to our questions, ABMC confirmed the commission’s retraction with the following statement: “Based on an internal review of interpretations conducted by ABMC’s former director, the agency in March rescinded a single panel featuring a quote from Lt. Jefferson Wiggins, an African American soldier who survived the war.”
In a message to EL PAÍS, the US commission said that the Margraten Visitor Center “contains 15 magnetic panels related to the military, designed to be removed and rotated during the exhibition period.” This way, he continues, “as many individual stories as possible are highlighted.” The message goes on to say that four of these plaques “depict African American servicemen buried in the cemetery, and the one dedicated to Engineer 4th Class George H. Pruitt is not on display, but remains as part of a rotating exhibit about fallen American servicemen.”
Diversity and equality programs in the United States have been slashed by President Donald Trump, extending to the Pentagon and Army. The act affected federal agencies and departments, but also public procurement for companies considering comprehensive standards.
Shock runs through the country
Dutch historian Keith Ribbens is not convinced by the US explanation. On the contrary, it appears that “memories of racism may not be welcome” to the current administration of President Donald Trump. “It’s bad that President Trump is trying to rewrite the history of World War II, because this is also about Europe,” he said in a phone conversation. Ribbens, a senior fellow at the National Institute on War, Holocaust and Genocide (NIOD), emphasizes that residents of cemeteries and nearby towns do more than just place flowers on graves. Since 1945, many families have adopted them and ensured that they were in perfect condition in gratitude for the country’s liberation. For this reason, cemeteries and fallen soldiers have naturally become part of the social fabric, and the removal of the panels caused an uproar. The same expert said the incident could be an attempt by the United States to present history in an “uncritical way that is probably not divisive.” But if so, he argues, this “will not contribute to improving our understanding of our complex and dark past.”
The visitor center, which opened in December 2023, initially showed a film in which a black soldier appears briefly while digging a grave. However, there is no mention of their construction of the Margraten Cemetery or how they were treated by racial segregation. During President Joe Biden’s term in office, then-U.S. Ambassador to the Netherlands Shefali Razdan Dugal was informed of the situation, and in 2024 ABMC added information reflecting the work of these soldiers.
On Monday, Mayor Alan Kleinen of Eisden-Margraten, the municipality that includes the cemetery, sent a memo to ABMC asking it to reconsider removing the panels and “pay constant attention to the stories of African American soldiers.” He also wants to meet with the new US ambassador, Joseph Popolo, to discuss the matter. Meanwhile, 11 of the state’s political parties have called the situation “despicable and unacceptable” and raised the possibility of erecting a monument to black soldiers outside the cemetery.
Established in 1944, Margraten Cemetery was then permanently leased to the U.S. government, which manages it. Approximately 8,300 American soldiers who died during the liberation of the southeastern Netherlands are buried here. The names of another 1,722 people who are officially considered missing are also displayed on the site, ABMC said. Among those troops were 174 African American soldiers, according to data from the Dutch Black Liberators Research Project. dutch newspaper N.R.C. warned several months ago that two plates had to be kept in storage without being made public. The Netherlands remained occupied throughout the war, but was completely liberated on May 5, 1945. This day is a national holiday.
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