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.

The interview with Rolf Schuursma (born 1931) was conducted for the purposes of a study into (the history of) SFW’s sound archive, resulting in Lauwers’ The interview collections at the Film and Science Foundation, An audiographic overview, part 1, Amsterdam: Film and Science Foundation (SFW working edition no.8), 1995. An inventory of the first 10 years of the audio archive’s interview collection.

The interview covers the development of the Historical Sound Archive within the Institute of History of the Utrecht State University (RUU) in 1961 up to its incorporation into the Utrecht SFW in 1970. Schuursma played a crucial role in the whole process. Besides acquiring a large amount of radio material, he initiated the interview collection at RUU. He moved with SFW in 1970 and became head of the newly formed Documentation Department. He later held other positions within the foundation until 1980, when he became librarian of Erasmus University Rotterdam. Between 1985 and 1992, he was a member of the Advisory Board of SFW.

The interviews were conducted for the historical study by C. Offringa, Van Gildestein naar Uithof, today known as the Utrecht Science Park. In 1951, Utrecht University decided to move the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine from the old location of the Rijks Veeartsenijschool on Biltsstraat to the Uithof. Since 2011, the name has been renamed the Utrecht Science Park.

The first volume appeared in 1971 as a dissertation entitled: Van Gildestein naar Uithof : 150 jaar diergeneeskundig onderwijs in Utrecht. The second volume appeared in 1981. The two volumes are a resource for various groups of historians. The content is more than a barren enumeration of facts, more than a compilation of annual reports or data from almanacs. Moreover, the text is well documented. The content of the material has posed problems for the author, which will not surprise anyone who tries to give an overview of “modern” developments in the institutions of education and scientific research, and moreover tries to place them in the social and political conditions of the period.

Hence the author has secured helpers, largely former professors, who were still active in the period.

The following former professors were interviewed:

• Prof. Dr. J.A. Beijers, ordinary professor of special pathology and medicine of non-parasitic and non-infectious diseases, judicial veterinary science, history of veterinary medicine, clinic and outdoor practice
• Prof. Dr. L. Seekles, ordinary professor of medical-veterinary chemistry
• Prof. J.H. ten Thije, ordinary professor of general pathology, pathological dissection and pathological tissue engineering. Later full professor of general and comparative pathology.

Interviewers: S.R. Numans, R.L. Schuursma

For more information about the interviews and the interviewees, see: SFW work issue no. 8 (1995), pp. 5, 38, 44.

The Nederlands Volksbuurtmuseum has a collection of 250 interviews.

A small selection of the interviews can be seen at their website