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Pepijn de Koning wins the Vliegenthart Thesis Prize 2025 with his master's thesis. He wrote his thesis about the cultural memory of the deportation of the Apeldoornsche Bosch and the perspective of the patients for the Research Master's programme in Dutch Literature and Culture.

Apeldoornsche Bosch

The Apeldoornsche Bosch was a Jewish psychiatric institution located in Apeldoorn from 1909 to 1943, which was evacuated during the Nazi evacuation on the night of 21 to 22 January 1943. Almost 1,200 patients and some of the staff were deported to Auschwitz, where all the patients were executed. In his thesis, Pepijn contributes to a more inclusive remembrance of this tragedy by approaching the perspective of the patients, despite the lack of traditional written testimonies. Within this group of victims, two histories converge: that of the persecution of the Jews and that of discriminatory and eugenic practices against people with disabilities. Pepijn researched the post-war cultural memory of the Apeldoornsche Bosch through literary works, television films, plays and exhibitions, and concluded that the emphasis was mainly on the perspective of the nursing staff. In the impressive conclusion to his thesis, he gives a voice to the patients through a number of preserved objects, including a sketchbook, a painter's palette, several letters and a medical file.

Jury verdict

The jury was very impressed by the quality of all the theses nominated this year in the Humanities domain. Pepijn de Koning's thesis stood out in three respects.

Firstly, because of its innovative research, in which he not only works very carefully with available sources but also shows what you can do when no sources are available. Secondly, because of his excellent writing style, which is clear and careful but also gripping for the reader. But above all because of the sincere and honest way in which Pepijn highlights the lived experiences of the patients of the Apeldoornsche Bos, a group of Holocaust victims who, due to the intersecting lines of disability and race, do not fit well into the standard narratives.

In doing so, he contributes to a constant reflection on our culture of remembrance, a subject of obvious social importance. The jury warmly congratulates Pepijn on this very convincing thesis.