The University of Twente launched in 1964 as the first campus university in the Netherlands. The idea was that of civitas academia, an academic community where even first-generation students would feel at home. On campus there would be peace and regularity, with a focus not only on studies, but also on cultural development and living together. The establishment of student associations in the form of sports and cultural clubs was encouraged, but corporal associations were kept out. There was an effort to integrate technical and social sciences, and in 3.5 years, students could pass the baccalaureate, which in principle made them ready for a job in business.

The story of the early years of the then Technische Hogeschool Twente is well documented. What is less clear is how all the ideals of the founders turned out in practice. The Archive Department of the LISA (Library, IT Services & Archive) department has set up an oral history project in collaboration with Stichting Universiteitsfonds Twente, in which about 20 students from the first batch are interviewed about their experiences between 1964 and 1972. Why did students choose Twente, what were their expectations? How did female students experience their time on campus? What did studying at UT and the process of coming of age on campus give students of that time? An interesting area of tension is the desire to prepare students better for social life than was common at technical universities, while at the same time housing and educating them on a campus far from the city.

Marjan Beijering (History Lab) supervised the project. About five interviewers (almost all members of GEWIS, the association of UT pensioners) attended oral history workshops and worked closely with UT’s video team, which lent recorders and secured the recordings afterwards. Arjan van Hessen helped work with ASR. By the end of September 2023, 20 oral history interviews will be ready, recorded on audio and including permission for inclusion in archives, metadata, summaries. Some of the interviews will also be recorded on film. Interviewer Martin Bosker will use some of the interviews as the basis for his podcast Campuswalks.

The interviews were conducted on the occasion of Rotterdam Celebrates the City in 2016, a cultural event around the commemoration of the reconstruction, and the term “reconstruction” should be understood broadly in this collection. For example, in addition to architects and municipal workers from the postwar period, Rotterdammers with an immigrant background and younger Rotterdammers were interviewed about their views on life in the Maas City.

Initially, the goal of project Soul of the Reconstruction was not focused historical research, but the compilation of an audiobook of the same name for a wide audience. This book consists of four CDs with excerpts from the interviews, along with brief descriptions of the people interviewed. These descriptions have been reproduced in DANS.

The interviews have been deposited with DANS. The Stadsarchief Rotterdam preserves the collection. The process of making the collection available online was carried out by the Erasmus Studio of Erasmus University Rotterdam. They took care of the metadata of the collection, tested automatic speech recognition and created a standard workflow for this process, so that in the future institutions will know which steps to take when they want to make interviews available for research in the Media Suite.

The interviews are almost entirely in Dutch and consist of an audio recording with a transcript attached. These transcripts vary greatly in quality: many of the transcripts are incomplete and some only have time-stamped subjects. Of the total 86 interviews, not all will be uploaded at one time due to privacy statements that are not yet complete. This is the reason why for now not all interviews from number 1 to 86 are online.

On the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the commemoration of this disaster, a series of interviews with people involved were made between 2018 and 2019. Marco Krijnsen, public historian and journalist portrayed 23 people who were affected by this disaster. The interviews give a good picture of the experiences during and after the disaster of both residents of the neighborhood and various other people involved including a journalist, a police officer, a firefighter, the widow of a firefighter who died, a factory manager, a head of social affairs and an alderman.

Some individuals spoke for 15 minutes and others for an entire hour. One thing is certain: those involved take center stage and get to tell their stories.

Between 1983-1988, Cees Heeren interviewed several people from Roosendaal for the purpose of his book De Trommelaeren van Roesendaele: een sociaal-cultureel beeld van de jaren vijftig en 60. The interviews covered the 1950s and 1960s. These 31 interviews are stored in the West Brabant Archives.

You may find a video of the Trommelaeren from the 60s here.

The interviewees are all people from Utrecht who talk about their experiences in daily life and work during the occupation period 1940-45. They discuss: the German invasion in May 1940, raids in Utrecht and the NSB. Leo van Rhenen conducted the interviews out of interest in (daily) life in Utrecht during World War II.

Talking with Thijssen about his experiences as a caravan dweller in Doetinchem. The first interview was conducted by De Kok, Borregaard and Peterink, the second only by De Kok and Borregaard. The interview was intended as starting material for an SFW sound picture.

The interviews were conducted for the purposes of Jos Hoogeveen’s book ‘Even for the record. Heerlen in wartime, 1940-1944

The interviewees are former resistance fighters, who talk about their experiences during World War II in Heerlen until the liberation of that city in 1944.

Interviewees:

• A. Bemelmans
• A. van Brink
• J. Corrips
• J. Crasborn
• A. Damen
• L. Jans
• J. Cologne
• J. Lemmens
• A. Paulen
• Mr Ramackers
• W. van Roest
• O. Schumacher
• T. Spreksel
• P. Stoks
• Br. Winkelmolen

German army raid in Heerlen, 10 May 1940. After the occupation of Heerlen, several former Dutch soldiers became active in the resistance. (Rijckheyt Collection)

Stichting Onderzoek Terugkeer en Opvang (SOTO)

NIOD 889, nventory numbers 47, 48-51

Many of the Jews returned from concentration camps and hiding places faced negative reactions from the Dutch population in the summer of 1945.

Dienke Hondius, “Welkom” in Amsterdam. Aankomst en ontvangst van repatrianten in de hoofdstad in 1945, in: Kristel, Polderschouw, 201-221

See also:

Terugkeer, Antisemitisme in Nederland rond de bevrijding

Dienke Hondius

ISBN: 9789012086455

The interviews were made for Bregstein’s film “In Search of Jewish Amsterdam”, created at the initiative of the City of Amsterdam on the occasion of the city’s 700th anniversary celebrations. Film and interviews cover Jewish Amsterdam up to 1940. The film had its premiere on 29 December 1975 in Amsterdam. It was also broadcast on television by the NCRV on 8 February 1976.

Some of the research was done by Salvador Bloemgarten, who also worked with Bregstein on the screenplay. The film was produced by Jan Vrijman Cineproductie.

The integral film text was later published in the book Op zoek naar Joods Amsterdam / film by Philo Bregstein, Amsterdam: Meulenhoff (film texts), 1981 (partly previously published in Parool and Skoop). At the back (pp.59-76) is a diary Bregstein kept on the preparations and production of the film.

More extensive excerpts from the interviews were included in Herinneringen aan Joods Amsterdam / edited by Philo Bregstein and Salvador Bloemgarten, Amsterdam: De Bezige Bij, 1978 (340 pp). Some additional interviews were conducted in 1977 for this purpose. The book includes a list of ‘narrators’, as well as a list of biographical notes concerning the interviewees.

Copies of the collection are managed by Jewish Cultural Quarter. The original is managed by Netherlands Institute for Sound & Vision.

Ad de Beer in conversation with the Van Eerdewijk-Sandbergen family about the raid on Coba Pulskens in Diepenstraat in Tilburg on July 9, 1944. Van Eerdewijk was involved in Coba’s illegal work and lived next door to Coba Pulskens.

Gerrit Kobes in conversation with C. v.d. Hooft, during the war district leader of the LO/LKP, Brabant-Oost and with Mr. Hamburg, during the war active in the resistance within Tilburg, Group O.D.

Gerrit Kobes in conversation with Brother Frederico, Father Rembertus (Rooie Rem) and Jan Franken about the illegality within the LO/LKP, Brabant East.

Gerrit Kobes in conversation with Eppo Boer at Beesterzwaag, during the war working as an illegal worker (district leader) within the LO/LKP, Tilburg West region. After the liberation Mr. Boer was active in the establishment of MTN (Motor Transport Nederland), predecessor of the AAT.

Four resistance fighters during the vacations around August/September 1941. With glasses Jac Theelen and to his right Leo Winkelmolen. They came from Limburg and were in hiding with Coba Pulskens – © Regionaal Archief Tilburg