Annually on May 4, the Remembrance of the Dead (Dutch: Dodenherdenking) is held in the Netherlands. It commemorates all civilians and members of the armed forces of the Kingdom of the Netherlands who have died in wars or peacekeeping missions since the outbreak of World War II. This year there will be also two minutes of silence on WhatsApp.

Traditionally, the main ceremony is observed in Amsterdam at the National Monument on Dam Square. This ceremony is attended by Queen Beatrix, Prince Willem-Alexander and other members of the royal family. At 8:00 p.m., two minutes of silence are observed throughout the Netherlands. WhatsAppen.nl is asking everyone to be quiet on WhatsApp as well.

“A lot of us are communicating via WhatsApp in silence. But even in this “new way of communicating” we think it’s important to commemorate the victims” says WhatsAppen.nl. It will be the first “WhatsApp silence” in the world.

Since WhatsApp is a worldwide service, of course it’s not possible to shut it down for two minutes. The ‘success’ of the initiative really depends on the users.

Netherlands National Committee 4 and 5 May is supporting the initiative.