Victims of war

In World War II (1940-1945), twenty-two Tilburg students perished during bombardments, resistance activities, in concentration camps or in consequence of forced labor, accidents or disease. The first to expire was Henk Koehorst, who died on 14 May 1940 in a no-win gunfight with the Germans in the battle for the Grebbeberg. Led by Rector Magnificus Cobbenhagen, virtually everyone in the then Catholic College of Economics chose not to sign the oath of allegiance to the German occupier. This prevented the College from conducting its business, but it also meant that it remained a community throughout the War, with teachers and students keeping in touch and providing moral or practical support. Cobbenhagen prepared lecture notes and food parcels for students in hiding, wrote encouraging letters and stood up for his students to the German authorities.

Monument

The twenty-two students who were killed were long known only by their names and dates of death, until a monument was unveiled in the Cobbenhagen Building in 2017, with a digital source: www.monumentvoordevrijheid.nl. This gave the deceased a story and a face. The monument is a tribute to the wartime university community, and it also aims to amplify the university motto of Understanding Society and to make present-day students reflect on freedom and education.