Remembrance ceremony for students at Tilburg University’s war memorial
On the occasion of the Remembrance of the Dead on May 4, Marike Knoef, Dean of the Tilburg School Economics and Management, and Siebold Klasen, president of student association Sint Olof, laid flowers at the war memorial commemorating the twenty-two Tilburg students who lost their lives during the Second World War. They died following bombings, because of their resistance activities, in concentration camps, or as a result of forced labor and illness. The memorial, consisting of a memorial wall with photos and candles, is located in Cobbenhagen Building.
Marike Knoef: “Today, we commemorate all Dutch victims of war since the Second World War. Within our closeknit Tilburg community, we pay tribute on this day in particular to the young students of our university who lost their lives. Twenty-two brave and ambitious students in the prime of their lives. Let us together remember the past while also reflecting on the present. It is sad that, even today, we are confronted with wars across the world. Freedom can never be taken for granted.”
Siebold Klasen: “For most of us today, it is almost impossible to imagine how people must have felt in times of war. I think that many students and young people are hardly aware what freedom meant then and how differently we define it now. We take it for granted that we can do many things and are free to do so. By paying tribute to and commemorating today those who gave their lives for our freedom, I hope that people realize that it cannot be taken for granted.”
A Dutch website, launched by the Tilburg Cobbenhagen Center (TCC) in collaboration with the Regionaal Archief Tilburg and supported by student associations T.S.C. St. Olof and T.S.R. Vidar and Tilburg University’s Arts and Heritage Commission, is part of this memorial.
