Huize Katwijk
St. Willibrord college was a boarding school in Katwijk aan de Rijn, that's why it's also called "Huize Katwijk".
In 1928 the college moved to the Hague. During the war (WWII) the building had been confiscated by the Germans and in 1943 the college found shelter in Castle Neubourg in Gulpen.
Cor Hoogenbosch had been a student and graduated in 1922. Ad was sent to "Huize Katwijk" in August/September 1943, the beginning of the school year. In his memoirs (written in 2012) he refers to his time there. He also mentions an incident with a fellow student called Jules. Jules Huf had been interviewed for "Katwijk Kroniek" (former students magazine) in 2006 and refers to the same incident. Jules had made a film and in the end Ad can be seen.
In 1928 the college moved to the Hague. During the war (WWII) the building had been confiscated by the Germans and in 1943 the college found shelter in Castle Neubourg in Gulpen.
Cor Hoogenbosch had been a student and graduated in 1922. Ad was sent to "Huize Katwijk" in August/September 1943, the beginning of the school year. In his memoirs (written in 2012) he refers to his time there. He also mentions an incident with a fellow student called Jules. Jules Huf had been interviewed for "Katwijk Kroniek" (former students magazine) in 2006 and refers to the same incident. Jules had made a film and in the end Ad can be seen.
Ad Hoogenbosch Huize Katwijk -Kasteel Neubourg in Gulpen school year 1943/1944
Boarding school
"Perhaps I was a handful of trouble for my parents at that time or they genuinely thought that it would be better for my education? I was sent to the boarding school where my father had been a student. The school used to be in The Hague but the Germans had now occupied the building.
Huize Katwijk, my father’s old school had been temporally moved to a medieval Castle in the most southern part of Holland. The Count and Countess lived in the Castle, called Neubourg.
If the school had not been there the Germans would have occupied Neubourg anyway. It was an impressive building with enormously thick walls and a moat around it. The twenty or so acres around it were a beautiful park. Had it not been for the lack of freedom of movement that I had so much enjoyed I might have liked it. For the first couple of months there I was out-boarding. I had a room with a family in the village of Gulpen and was able to go ‘home’ on my bike after the evening meal and prayers and get back to school very early in the morning before the morning exercises, mass and breakfast. Those mornings were really horrible. Proper showers or bathing was a once a week occasion! And b.o. is a real bad smell! Learning and study times were okay but the religious disciplines of the Jesuits were not of my liking. Weekends, after the Saturday and Sunday morning rituals were a relief. That’s when a little bit of freedom was to be enjoyed. But that did not last. One Saturday afternoon one of my fellow students obtained permission to go with me to my out boarding home. Instead of just staying there, which would have been boring, we hopped on our bikes to Maastricht for a film in a cinema. It was a real outing and we got back in the dark. Jules, my companion student, got back to the Castle and I was at home. All would perhaps have been okay if Jules had kept his mouth shut but he told somebody of the movie and that got the ball rolling. I was suspended for two weeks and my father came down per train to collect me. He was fuming but sympathetic about my escapade and I think somewhat pd-off with the prefect of the school.
For me it was an escape that I welcomed. After those glorious two weeks I went back to school but was then interned at the Castle.
Large air raids were now more regular and when that was on we sheltered in the dungeons under the Castle. The German city of Aachen was bombed many times. That was only 20 odd miles distant and we could see the glow of the fires. One day a Thunderbolt US aircraft crashed on the edge of the Castle’s land. I sneaked out with some others and we collected souvenirs. That was another time that I got into deep trouble. Anyway the school year came to an end and circumstances allowed me to continue schooling in my hometown."
Boarding school
"Perhaps I was a handful of trouble for my parents at that time or they genuinely thought that it would be better for my education? I was sent to the boarding school where my father had been a student. The school used to be in The Hague but the Germans had now occupied the building.
Huize Katwijk, my father’s old school had been temporally moved to a medieval Castle in the most southern part of Holland. The Count and Countess lived in the Castle, called Neubourg.
If the school had not been there the Germans would have occupied Neubourg anyway. It was an impressive building with enormously thick walls and a moat around it. The twenty or so acres around it were a beautiful park. Had it not been for the lack of freedom of movement that I had so much enjoyed I might have liked it. For the first couple of months there I was out-boarding. I had a room with a family in the village of Gulpen and was able to go ‘home’ on my bike after the evening meal and prayers and get back to school very early in the morning before the morning exercises, mass and breakfast. Those mornings were really horrible. Proper showers or bathing was a once a week occasion! And b.o. is a real bad smell! Learning and study times were okay but the religious disciplines of the Jesuits were not of my liking. Weekends, after the Saturday and Sunday morning rituals were a relief. That’s when a little bit of freedom was to be enjoyed. But that did not last. One Saturday afternoon one of my fellow students obtained permission to go with me to my out boarding home. Instead of just staying there, which would have been boring, we hopped on our bikes to Maastricht for a film in a cinema. It was a real outing and we got back in the dark. Jules, my companion student, got back to the Castle and I was at home. All would perhaps have been okay if Jules had kept his mouth shut but he told somebody of the movie and that got the ball rolling. I was suspended for two weeks and my father came down per train to collect me. He was fuming but sympathetic about my escapade and I think somewhat pd-off with the prefect of the school.
For me it was an escape that I welcomed. After those glorious two weeks I went back to school but was then interned at the Castle.
Large air raids were now more regular and when that was on we sheltered in the dungeons under the Castle. The German city of Aachen was bombed many times. That was only 20 odd miles distant and we could see the glow of the fires. One day a Thunderbolt US aircraft crashed on the edge of the Castle’s land. I sneaked out with some others and we collected souvenirs. That was another time that I got into deep trouble. Anyway the school year came to an end and circumstances allowed me to continue schooling in my hometown."
Ad (with glasses) at the end of the film made by Jules Huf.