About the artwork
The unveiling of the monument took place on Monday, December 19, 2022 in the presence of Mayor Aboutaleb Pale noses. The artwork is in memory of the Rotterdam children and their host families during the hunger winter during the Second World War. In the last years of the war, approximately 18.000 children from Rotterdam were taken care of in the provinces of Friesland, Groningen, Drenthe, Gelderland and Overijssel to recuperate. These so-called 'white noses' found a loving, warm nest with host families in these provinces and regained their strength through the nutritious food. The host families from the northern provinces have made the difference for these Rotterdam children. The reception of the families literally meant their salvation to prevent them from dying of the hunger that was raging in Rotterdam. There are still many 'children' who think back to that period with gratitude.
Commissioned by BKOR, cartoonist Martin Lodewijk (1939), who himself experienced the war and hunger winter, designed the artwork. Pale noses is placed on the facade of the new building on Westewagenstraat and 2e Westewagenhof; the site of a Vervat Transport truck shed that helped evacuate children to the north and east. The initiator for this monument is Steef Rietbergen. The project was made possible in part by the Municipality of Rotterdam and Matrans Holding/Vervat, in close collaboration with real estate developer Leyten en Klunder Architecten.
About the artist
Martin Lodewijk (Rotterdam, 1939) has been a cartoonist for sixty-five years. He grew up in post-war Rotterdam with Dutch magazines such as Spirou, Heroic en Tom Poes Weekly. But also with American comics, which were easy to find in second-hand bookshops in the port city of Rotterdam. Lodewijk tried to make comics himself at an early age and with success: already at the age of 17 he published cartoons and comics at the Rotterdam company ATH for magazines (Bolero, Mascot) and booklets (Aerospace, Arent Brandt). His contribution to the comics world includes the widely known science fiction series Storm and scenarios for all kinds of series in the detective, adventurer, western, fantasy and knight genre. He is best known as the author of the comic series Agent 327, a high-quality strip, in which he also manages to capture his deep love for his hometown of Rotterdam.
About the artwork
The unveiling of the monument took place on Monday, December 19, 2022 in the presence of Mayor Aboutaleb Pale noses. The artwork is in memory of the Rotterdam children and their host families during the hunger winter during the Second World War. In the last years of the war, approximately 18.000 children from Rotterdam were taken care of in the provinces of Friesland, Groningen, Drenthe, Gelderland and Overijssel to recuperate. These so-called 'white noses' found a loving, warm nest with host families in these provinces and regained their strength through the nutritious food. The host families from the northern provinces have made the difference for these Rotterdam children. The reception of the families literally meant their salvation to prevent them from dying of the hunger that was raging in Rotterdam. There are still many 'children' who think back to that period with gratitude.
Commissioned by BKOR, cartoonist Martin Lodewijk (1939), who himself experienced the war and hunger winter, designed the artwork. Pale noses is placed on the facade of the new building on Westewagenstraat and 2e Westewagenhof; the site of a Vervat Transport truck shed that helped evacuate children to the north and east. The initiator for this monument is Steef Rietbergen. The project was made possible in part by the Municipality of Rotterdam and Matrans Holding/Vervat, in close collaboration with real estate developer Leyten en Klunder Architecten.
About the artist
Martin Lodewijk (Rotterdam, 1939) has been a cartoonist for sixty-five years. He grew up in post-war Rotterdam with Dutch magazines such as Spirou, Heroic en Tom Poes Weekly. But also with American comics, which were easy to find in second-hand bookshops in the port city of Rotterdam. Lodewijk tried to make comics himself at an early age and with success: already at the age of 17 he published cartoons and comics at the Rotterdam company ATH for magazines (Bolero, Mascot) and booklets (Aerospace, Arent Brandt). His contribution to the comics world includes the widely known science fiction series Storm and scenarios for all kinds of series in the detective, adventurer, western, fantasy and knight genre. He is best known as the author of the comic series Agent 327, a high-quality strip, in which he also manages to capture his deep love for his hometown of Rotterdam.
