Young people in the line of fire: free, but not liberated

Diaries offer a special, personal look at life during wartime. World-famous is Anne Frank's diary, but she is not the only one to record her experiences. Thousands of Dutch people kept a daily record of their experiences during this time. The Nijmegen war diaries from the period September 1944 to May 1945 form an exceptionally large collection.

For three weeks, the collection is the focus of the exhibition "Young People in the Line of Fire" in the Stevenskerk (Oct. 1 through 24). How do young people live and survive when surrounded by war violence? The experiences of young people from Nijmegen then, mirror the experiences of young people from today's war zones, such as Ukraine, Syria and Afghanistan.

Four days of fighting between Germans and Allies for possession of the Waal bridges in September 1944. During the street fighting in the city center and around the entrance to the bridges, thousands of Nijmegen citizens find themselves in the line of fire. During sparse combat breaks, many are able to flee the battlefield. The occupiers force residents of entire street blocks to leave their homes. Then they set them on fire to slow down the Allied advance.

A large number of Nijmegen citizens start a diary at this time to record the extraordinary and rapidly changing events. They write off their fears. Nijmegen is free, but not yet liberated from war.
However, the war does not end when the bridges are in Allied hands. For six months, Nijmegen remains under fire. Almost daily German bombs and shells fall on the city. After the liberation in September 1944, more than a thousand people still die. Military personnel, but especially also Nijmegen civilians. Thousands are wounded. Many diarists continued to record their experiences during this period. Nearly one hundred diaries have now been collected for research. So many personal stories about the war in an area of about eight square kilometers is unique.

The exhibition in the Stevenskerk focuses on young people from Nijmegen. The diaries about their experiences are brought to life; not only with photos, objects and writings, but also in an interactive way, with modern forms of presentation and augmented reality (AR). From different perspectives - the young people themselves, their parents and their teachers - life in the last six months of the war in Nijmegen is highlighted. These are emotion-filled months: violence, joy, fear, habituation, celebration and the search for a new normality. Many tens of thousands of allied soldiers then live among the people of Nijmegen. Before their arrival, the city had a hundred thousand inhabitants, now a multiple of that. For the youth, this is a special experience. Children are spoiled with candy, girls receive invitations to dance parties. But many dozens of young people also die because of German bombs and shells, and allied blow-offs.

Trees Schretlen, a seventeen-year-old high school student, writes in her school diary what she experiences every day and sticks gum wrappers of the liberators next to it. She is excited about the arrival of the Americans and her first dance party, but also saddened when a friend is killed in a shell fire. Her brother Bert, seven years older, also keeps a diary. His experiences are more adventurous. Many families, like Fine Oostendorp-Eppink's young family, live in cellars. There are hardly any real air-raid shelters. Children do not see daylight for days on end. Schools are closed. But the Allies also celebrate. The Nijmegen boy Jan Hendriks plays the piano in De Vereeniging. Massive is the relief when the Germans finally capitulate on May 5. The celebration of joy lasts for days.

Even now there are young people from Nijmegen who are scarred by war, refugees from Ukraine, Syria and Afghanistan. How do they record their experiences? Diaries are now often replaced by blogs and vlogs. The exhibition will also focus on this. For them, freedom from war does not yet mean freedom from fear.

'Jongeren in de vuurlinie', October 1 to 23 in the Stevenskerk, Stevenskerkhof 62, Nijmegen. For more information see: www.stevenskerk.nl.