Oral History Simpelveld-Bocholtz

In the municipality of Simpelveld, an attempt was made in the past to bring oral history to life, together with the local history society and Rijckheyt. The aim of the project was to use oral tradition to record memories of events and circumstances from the past, using images and sound. Four people were interviewed. This resulted in a large amount of unique film material. In the surroundings of Simpelveld Mrs. A. Hamers-Dautzenberg from the Huls and Mr. Sjeng Schrijvers (also known as Agricola) from Bosschenhuizen were interviewed. In Bocholtz we talked to Mr. Guus Herbergs and Mrs. Tilla Schleck-Lommen.

It was not only extremely fascinating to listen to the content of the interviews, but also the way in which the participants told their stories. This way not only the stories are preserved but also the pronunciation of the own “dialect” and the differences in this case between Bocholtz and Simpelveld. Important to preserve for the future because the original pronunciations become more and more polluted.

* Source: De Bongerd, year 20 no 2 2008