Jozef De Vroey, an inspired teacher

Atheneum of Rijksmiddelare school. A few months after his ordination, in September 1937, De Vroey becomes a teacher at the Sint-Lievenscollege in Antwerp. The school was founded only in 1937 and was an innovative Flemish project at a time when the French language dominated the humanities. He teaches languages and history among other subjects and supervises in the boarding school. According to his colleagues, he was the ideal man to interact casually with the playful youth. He feels at home in this environment of camaraderie. During this period, he makes a cheerful drawing, a striking caricature, or a subdued Easter charter for every occasion. At an old age, he would refer to this time as “Ah, Sint-Lievens! The best college, the most beautiful community I have ever known!” But in 1957 he leaves the school to become a religious studies teacher in the state high schools, first briefly in Aarschot and later in Leuven.

In his effort to keep the memory alive, for De Vroey the youth is the most important link to the future. They must also know the truth. His book finds its way into school libraries. He himself gives tours in the city. He speaks at schools. For a moment, he feels disheartened when his brother Hubert says that the youth has different interests. But he becomes enthusiastic again when a group of girls can explain where the name 'Martelarenstraat' comes from.

It is therefore no surprise that in his drawings, youth often appears: as a Flupke going to the cinema during the war years, as the main subject in his advertising posters for schools, as cycling students, as innocent victims of violence, as malleable material for Nazism...

Jan Rymenams