Last winter, lovers of culture, history and literature could enjoy a series of lectures in the seminar room of the German military cemetery in Lommel. On Wednesday evenings, under the title Vrijspraak – an unorthodox translation of free speech – 5 speakers spoke .

Our winter lecture series was opened by Staf Hendrickx with his book “Van Mammoet Tot Big Mac”. The second speaker was our colleague Guy Cardeynaels who gave a presentation on his publication “Hoeveel Kost Een Tapir? 28x Kort Over God” – a book dealing with theological and religious topics. Prompted by many questions, the author runs after God. From the Flemish polder to the hills of New England, from the prison in Hasselt to the mountains of the Promised Land. Behind holy books, under mathematical treatises and on board Voyager. And of course after hours: Guy works as an educator here at the German War Cemetery, where he presented his book in his own way.

Our next speaker was Jef Vanbussel, a former German teacher from Hamont. In his retirement, he was able to devote the time he had freed up to researching local history. His knowledge of Goethe’s language came in handy again. When one deals with the history of our regions in the twentieth century, one not infrequently comes across sources in German. This was also the case when he uncovered the war story of Henri Vanbussel. On the eve of the futile defence campaign in May 1940, this Belgian soldier was captured by the invading Wehrmacht and taken to Stalag VIIIA near present-day Zgorzelec in Poland. Eighty years later, Jef followed in his father’s footsteps. In a fascinating talk, he told how two generations of Vanbussels ended up in Silesia, each in their own way – and in very different contexts. An account of war and captivity through personal glasses.

The crowning finale of our winter lecture series was “An Unlikely Friendship”. A lecture by Miel Andriesse and Tanja Wolterbeek. He was born Samuel in Eindhoven in 1942 and received his less Jewish-sounding nickname from his foster parents in Helmond. A short time later, his mother and father were arrested and murdered in Auschwitz.
She was the daughter of a Eindhoven NSB member – a Dutch Nazi – who tracked down fellow Jews for the security service. Their hard-to-digest past led to an unlikely friendship. In this lecture, they shared their moving story.

You can find more information about other events here.