Every society has its own commemorations and celebrations, the commemoration of the Second World War being perhaps the most widely recognised one due to its major impact worldwide. In her dissertation, Manja Coopmans gains more insight in the role of national commemorations in contemporary Western societies by empirically examining the determinants and consequences of Dutch citizens’ participation in the activities organised on May 4 and May 5, Dutch Liberation Day and Remembrance Day, in commemoration of the Second World War. In doing so, this dissertation contributes to the construction of a theoretical framework of mnemonic socialisation tailored for contemporary (Western) societies, paying specific attention to citizens further removed from the historical event that is commemorated, either in time (i.e. later generations) or in geographical distance (i.e. citizens with a migration background). Moreover, this dissertation answers questions on the consequences of commemorative participation by expanding existing theories on the broader function of commemorative rituals and empirically testing these theories at the level of the individual. A large number of mnemonic socialisation forms is identified as being effective in increasing chances of people participating in the commemorative activities organised on Dutch Remembrance Day and Liberation Day. A first example is communication. Throughout this dissertation, three types of communication can be distinguished that positively influence commemorative participation: war-specific communication with family members, war-specific communication with non-family members, and civic communication (e.g. talking with one’s parents about political or social issues). Another relevant determinant of commemorative participation is parental exemplar behaviour, especially in situations in which familial communication is absent. The relevance of previous familiarity with commemorative behaviours is also visible amongst citizens with a migration background, for whom participation ...