French: 12
Unknown: 3
Sophie Soukias obtained a degree in contemporary history from the Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB) in 2011. She specialised in knowledge transfer, earning a master’s degree in socio-educational communication from the Université Catholique de Louvain. From 2012 to 2014, she worked at CegeSoma as a secondee to develop the concept of the Mons Memorial Museum. It is in that context that she conducted interviews with witnesses of the Second World War in Mons. Its aim was to bring to light the various life stories of Mons residents. After this project, she was responsible for the final editing of the issues of war newspapers Les journaux de guerre, 1914-1918 Belgique and Les journaux de guerre 1919-1939.
Tim Debroyer makes nice use of oral history and links it nicely to the results of archival research. He approaches the subject from different perspectives, that of the patient, the medical angle, nursing and other disciplines. This very approach from multiple perspectives shows that the history of nursing is not an isolated discipline.
The content of the thesis is also original. TB has been a huge problem and one would expect it to have been solved with the advent of penicillin. This thesis does an excellent job of showing how big a part nurses played in eliminating TB as a disease. The creative use of interviews with nurses reveals the invisible side of nursing practice.
This master’s thesis places the ‘end’ and disappearance of a supposedly vanquished disease at the centre by analysing pulmonary tuberculosis in the period after World War II, at the time when antibiotics transformed the treatment of the disease. The Elisabeth sanatorium in Sijsele serves as a case study for this purpose. Tim Debroyer has examined the transformation of this sanatorium and the associated experiences of patients and staff through archival research and interviews. This case study begins at the end of the Second World War when the introduction of antibiotics triggered a whole series of changes within the sanatorium and ends with the closure of the last sanatorium service in Sijsele in 1986. His analysis of what took place in Sijsele during this key period thus offers an in-depth look at a broader transformation in the approach to tuberculosis at home and abroad.
The Oral History Project was one of the first projects initiated by ADVN. During the period 1984-1986, it underwent considerable expansion by interviewing a large number of people who experienced the history of Flemish nationalism from various perspectives. The scholarly approach to those interviews was largely determined by the Oral History Working Group.
In the course of the project, a more thematic approach was adopted when identifying possible respondents. Interview series on the (political) reorganisation of Flemish nationalism after World War II (Flemish Concentration, Volksunie, etc.), on the women’s movement (e.g. on the Women’s Movement for Amnesty, in cooperation with the Federation of Flemish Women’s Groups), on the group Nederland Een! (origins, functioning, organisation, etc. of the opposition movement Nederland Een! and of similar movements during World War II).
The ADVN was able to further expand its files with a large number of oral sources, made available in original or copies by individuals or associations.
The methodology followed was laid down by Bruno De Wever in two instruction texts (on the interview and transcription) and in a manual for individual and collective projects.
REALISATIONS
– oral testimonies recorded on tape and included in the audiovisual archive department of ADVN, mainly concerning the reorganisation of Flemish nationalism after WWII, women in the Flemish movement and Nederland Eén!
After World War II, the era of nationalism seemed definitely over. However, the political and socio-economic evolution in Belgium ensured that the Flemish movement regained a mass following relatively quickly. In its wake, Flemish nationalism again became a factor of political importance in the 1960s. The text below examines how that Flemish nationalism managed to survive repression and reorganise itself.
Between 1 April 2007 and 15 December 2009, according to the methodology of ‘oral history’, 48 in-depth interviews were conducted with Friars Minor, former confreres, a claris and others involved. In addition to these audio recordings, 9 interviews were filmed so that we have 28 hours of professional footage.
By collecting these ‘testimonies’ through in-depth interviews, we obtained a ‘more complete’ picture of the recent history of the Friars Minor. There has been a lot of research into the order in Flanders in the past. This has mainly given us information about ‘facts’. But how the Friars Minor ‘experienced’ everything personally is an aspect that was not covered before.
© P. Longinus de Munter, franciscan and photographer
As a function of the set-up ‘they came barefoot…’, audio and visual clips of the interviews were unlocked. Such testimonials succeed much better than traditional presentations in communicating a complex story to a wide audience. After all, we now live in an environment where images and sound are dominant.
‘Leaves in a tree’
6 Fathers and 1 Sister Claris were interviewed on camera. Very candidly, they talk about their vocation, their faith and experiences within the order. Maurice Noben turned it into a fascinating testimonial film. The film can be viewed continuously in the museum.
The harrowing story of the children of Belgian colonials and African mothers who were placed in foster homes in Belgium in the late 1950s.
Exactly 60 years after the independence of Rwanda and Burundi, the three-part documentary series Metissen van België tells the staggering history of more than 300 metis from the Belgian colonial period in Rwanda. The makers of the series do so through the life stories of three of them: Jaak, Paul and Jacqueline.
As illegitimate children of a white father and a black mother, they were taken away from their mother by the Belgian government and placed in Save’s boarding school in Rwanda. Just before independence, they had to leave there too and were rushed to Belgium.
There, uprooted and traumatized, they ended up in an adoptive family or an orphanage. These were events that marked the rest of their lives. Only in 2015 did they get access to their official files and were able to search for their roots.
During World War II, tens of thousands of Belgians collaborated with the Nazi regime. Their children look back and testify about the war period. What did their parents do, why did they collaborate, and how do their children feel about it now?
For the relatives of collaborators, the consequences of World War II were profound. They shared in the punishment and shame. Children often had an even harder time, as a normal family life was disrupted by facts they had absolutely nothing to do with. These were experiences they spent a lifetime reflecting on. The testimonies from the high-profile Canvas series Children of the Collaboration are now brought together in book form. Compiled by Piet Boncquet, the book is published in collaboration with Canvas. Historian Geert Clerbout, the final editor of the documentary series and the author of Publiek geheim (Public Secret), among others, writes the foreword. Piet Boncquet (1958) is a historian and archaeologist. He was a journalist with the newspapers Het Nieuwsblad and De Tijd for many years.
The series shows how the events of 75 years ago have left their mark on subsequent generations. It also aims to show how our society has dealt with the memory of the Holocaust since World War II. Interviews with 12 children of Holocaust survivors.
Interviews were also conducted with seven experts from different fields, dissecting the systematics of Nazi extermination politics.
The Holocaust claimed tens of thousands of victims in Belgium. For Jews who survived, the war would never be over. Immense was often the loss they had to give a place to. Their children had a leaden legacy to deal with. They also had to find their way in a society that was only willing to face the full truth about the war years later. These are experiences they have spent a lifetime reflecting on.
The testimonies from the high-profile Canvas series Children of the Holocaust have now been brought together in book form. Compiled by Piet Boncquet, the book is published in collaboration with Canvas. Historian Geert Clerbout, the final editor of the documentary series and the author of Publiek geheim (Public Secret), among others, writes the foreword. Piet Boncquet (1958) is a historian and archaeologist. He was a journalist with the newspapers Het Nieuwsblad and De Tijd for many years.
Number of interviews: 13
Source material: VRT archive to be viewed on location
Access: by appointment via vrtarchief@vrt.be
Conditions: see website
Metadata can be consulted via meemoo: hetarchief.be
During World War II, tens of thousands of Belgians joined the resistance against the Nazis. Their children testify about that war period. What did their parents do, why did they join the resistance and how dangerous was it?
Many resistance fighters were arrested by the Germans. Those arrests are still on the minds of many children 75 years later.
From the moment of the German invasion in May 1940, resistance to the occupation began. It often involved ordinary citizens who, out of conviction or patriotism, actively or passively resisted German soldiers, the German war machine and Belgian collaborators. In the course of the war, resistance organised itself and became more violent, as the occupying forces acted ruthlessly. The deep contrast between ‘whites’ and ‘blacks’, between resistance fighters and collaborators, marked post-war society. Partly because of this, especially in Flanders, the story of the resistance is less known. Unjustly so, as evidenced by the gripping testimonies in Children of the Resistance.
The episodes can be watched online in Belgium on canvas.be.
The book Kinderen van het verzet was compiled by Piet Boncquet and published in collaboration with Canvas. Piet Boncquet (1958) is a historian and archaeologist. He was a journalist for the newspapers Het Nieuwsblad and De Tijd for many years. Since 2013, he has been a freelance journalist and editor and wrote, among others, Lief en leed. Prostitution during World War I and The Last Supper after Leonardo da Vinci. A wondrous history.
Twenty witnesses tell their stories: 13 men and seven women belonging to three generations. They come from Italy, Greece, Spain, Morocco and Turkey, representing the countries that, between World War II and the 1974 migration freeze, supplied the largest number of migrant workers to the Belgian economy.
They or their (grand)parents came to Belgium out of economic necessity, to escape political oppression, or even just for the adventure. They were miners, factory workers, domestic servants. Their children are labourers, entrepreneurs, social workers, a taxi driver and a school headmaster. The makers have sought as much variety as possible… and yet all these people appear to share a particularly wide range of experiences.
Six-part documentary series telling the story of labour migration to Belgium since World War II.
In 1960, Congo gained its independence after a brief political struggle. For Belgium, it was the end of more than 75 years of presence in the central African country. For the six-part series Children of the Colony, twenty witnesses were interviewed about that period.
For the first time, Flemish television is also allowing the Congolese voice to speak extensively in the process, always paying attention to its relevance today.
In 1960, Congo gained its independence after a brief political struggle. For Belgium, it was the end of more than 75 years of presence in the central African country. In the six-part series Children of the Colony, twenty witnesses look back on that period and how the colonial legacy shaped their lives. For the first time, Flemish television also allows the Congolese voice to speak at length in the process, always paying attention to its relevance today.
People who lived through it from close by talk about colonial and post-colonial Congo. In the sixth episode, six Congo experts delve deeper into the post-colonial image and unravel truths and myths about Belgian Congo.
The episodes are online in Belgium on canvas.be.
Canvas presents: Kinderen van de kolonie
