Event

SG - Wageningen Students’ Lives During World War II

Stand in the shoes of Wageningen students caught in the mess of war.

Organised by Studium Generale
Date

Thu 12 May 2022 19:30

Venue Hotel de Wereld, 5 Mei Plein 1, 6703 CD Wageningen

Just imagine you are studying, and living it up with your friends when suddenly your world is rivetted by a military invasion changing everything. You face devilish dilemmas and have to make decisions that change life as you know it. As gripping today as it was more than seven decades ago, we invite you to trace this story of how Wageningen Students were caught up in the occupation of the Netherlands during World War II.

Bob Kernkamp (Wageningen City Archives) reconstructs the context of student life (based on Ceres, Unitas and KSV archives) and shares how the war impacted students at home and abroad as well as Wageningen and its inhabitants. Special guest speakers, Ben Puylaert and André Lardinois tell their fathers’ stories. Dylan Lardinois reads excerpts from the letters and diaries of Wageningen students. They, like his grandfather Pierre Lardinois (who would later become Dutch Minister of Agriculture and European Commissioner for Agriculture), faithfully penned their daily realities whilst enduring forced labour inside the German war machine. Unique photos and first degree eyewitness materials let you stand in the shoes of young students – like yourselves - caught in the mess of war. What does their story mean for us today?

Special guest speakers: Bob Kernkamp, Ben Puylaert, Dylan & André Lardinois