RSC/RVSV members organise Remembrance Day ceremony in Kralingen: ‘It sounds cliché, but if my grandfather hadn’t been there, neither would I’

Student corps RSC/RVSV is organising the Remembrance Day ceremony in Kralingen for the tenth time on Monday. A six-member committee is responsible for three commemorations in the district. “It’s special that I’m doing this 200 metres from where my grandmother last saw her parents.”

At the monument De Steen der Miljoen Tranen on Oudedijk, the Memorial Cross on Hoflaan and the monument on Jan Vermeersingel, hundreds of people will gather at around 8.00 pm this evening to reflect on the victims of the Second World War. All commemorations take place from 7.45 pm to 8.30 pm. The ceremonies are organised by the Remembrance Day committee of the Rotterdam student corps RSC/RVSV.

At Oudedijk, writer Marte Jongbloed will speak, author of the children’s book 1300 bommen in 13 minuten (‘1300 bombs in 13 minutes’) about the bombing of Rotterdam. “I think it’s wonderful and important that she passes on Rotterdam war stories to children”, says the committee chair and master’s student Econometrics Jet Stibbe (23). At Hoflaan, Ernst van Win from the foundation Na De Oorlog will tell his account. “His father is from Katendrecht and was in the resistance. He was an Engelandvaarder”, Stibbe explains. His Jewish grandfather also survived the bombing and his Jewish uncle infiltrated a company in Nazi Germany.

Various wreaths will also be laid by the district council, the police, several foundations and the student associations RSC/RVSV and Laurentius.

Explanatory power

The Remembrance Day committee consists of fifth-year members of RSC/RVSV who are responsible for the three commemorations in Kralingen. The corps has been doing this for ten years. Before that, the association was already involved, but in 2016 the municipality asked it to fully take on the task. “So we already had a script. The corps was allowed to give it its own interpretation”, Stibbe says.

Together with history student Hidde Bekke (23), she acted over the past year as the link between the committee and parties involved such as the municipality, the district council, the police and the scouts. Bekke is a born and raised Rotterdammer. “As a Rotterdammer, the war really is an important subject for me”, he says. He has always had a strong affinity with history. “I find its explanatory power fascinating. As is often said: those who do not know history are doomed to repeat it.”

Law student Suus Böcker (24) is responsible on Monday evening for the photographer and practical matters such as the speakers’ lectern, the set-up and the buglers. Böcker is very involved in the association through numerous committees and boards. She is now in her second consecutive year as a board member of the BeSt Foundation. “There I mainly have a managerial role. But I also wanted to create something myself.”

Organising a ceremony brings extra responsibility: “At a party, something can go wrong. Here, it cannot.” For her too, history is close to home. “A shell landed just in front of my grandfather but did not explode. It sounds cliché, but if he hadn’t been there, I wouldn’t be here either.”

Grandmother from Kralingen

For Stibbe, who is from Amsterdam, the commemoration also has a personal connection. Her grandmother grew up in Kralingen. During the occupation, her grandmother’s parents were arrested and deported. Her grandmother went into hiding in Dordrecht and returned to her old neighbourhood after the war. “It’s very special that I am organising a commemoration about 200 metres from where my grandmother last saw her parents.” Stibbe has a close relationship with her grandmother. “She finds it very special that I’m doing this. During the two minutes of silence, I think of her and our family story.”

Giving back to the neighbourhood

All committee members spent time living in Kralingen during their student years. And all of them now want to give something back to their beloved neighbourhood. “Kralingen holds a special place in my heart”, says Stibbe. Bekke: “You live here, you study here. It’s special that in this way we can give something back to Kralingen.”

“It’s good that people know we do this as well”, says Stibbe, referring to the negative attention the corps often receives. Böcker adds: “There is some bad blood among the students in Kralingen, but I hope the neighbourhood sees that there are also plenty who genuinely want to contribute something positive to the area.”

RSC/RVSV in wartime

The Rotterdam corps has a rich wartime history. The German occupier banned student associations. RSC and RVSV, then still two separate associations, were therefore forced to close. Members continued to meet in secret and the corps was the only one in the Netherlands that still had almanacs printed.