After the summer of 1941, Jewish students were not allowed to return to their schools. The municipality established schools for those students, such as the Jewish Lyceum. Anne Schram Ouweneel is conducting research on the school with students from the Erasmiaans Gymnasium. The stories of the Jewish Lyceum also say something about now.
With her research plan, Anne participated in CityLab010. Link opens an external page. This is a program of the municipality that allocates funds to projects that make Rotterdam greener, more social, and safer. With her Sanderling Foundation. Link opens an external page Anne received funding to develop her project, The Forgotten Lyceum. Link opens an external page, to work on.
Anne wants to show with The Forgotten Lyceum that World War II remains relevant. Because, as she often quotes writer and Auschwitz survivor Primo Levi: It happened, so it can happen again. Anne says:
Erasmiaans Gymnasium
‘As a student, I attended the Erasmiaans Gymnasium. At school, we commemorated former students who did not survive World War II every year. Their names were read aloud.
Later, I read a book by school historian Niek van der Blom. In that book, he expressed the hope that someone would someday research the Jewish Lyceum. Link opens an external page . That has always stuck with me, but I never had time to dive into that forgotten history.’
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In the attic with corona
‘I was already working on the project Erasmiaanse Namen. Link opens an external page. I help students from the Erasmiaans conduct research on war victims who attended their own school. Then the name of the Jewish Lyceum came up again. This piqued my curiosity. When I had to quarantine in the attic for 4 weeks during corona – yes, that’s how it was back then – I started looking further.’
Jewish Lyceum
‘A bit of background: after the summer vacation of 1941, Jewish students were no longer allowed to return to their schools. The municipality then established schools for Jewish children, such as the Jewish Lyceum in Kralingen. One of the students was Carry Ulreich.’
Rotterdams Anne Frank
‘Carry was a Rotterdam teenager who kept a diary during the war. Unlike Anne Frank, she survived the war. Later, Carry jokingly called herself “Rotterdams Anne Frank.”
Carrys diary. Link opens an external page was later published. She is included in the Canon of Rotterdam. Link opens an external page. That is an overview of moments and people who are important to the history of the city.
Us/them thinking
‘The stories of Carry and her classmates, of whom few survived the war, show what us/them thinking can do. You can see that happening again now. The stories of the Jewish Lyceum say something about now. That’s why I wanted to turn it into a school project.’
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Starting capital
‘I was incredibly happy with the funding from CityLab010. A big advantage is that CityLab provides start-up capital. Many funders only do that once a project is completed. But you incur expenses before starting a project. Fortunately, those were now covered. Without that start-up capital, The Forgotten Lyceum would not have come to fruition.’
Primary sources
‘With The Forgotten Lyceum, students work with primary sources, such as diaries and historical documents. They bring the war closer than a textbook.’
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Online museum
‘The project will be an online museum. Unlike a book, which is finished when it goes out into the world, an online museum continues to develop. I hope many stories will follow.
Even if a student today only delves into 1 war victim, I see that such a victim comes to life for the student. That is valuable and educational.’
More information
Are you, like Anne, carrying a beautiful plan for the city? A plan that makes Rotterdam greener, more social, and/or safer? Then submit your plan to CityLab010. You can sign up for the newsletter. Link opens an external page to stay informed.