As soon as you sit down with this group of six good-humoured men, you find yourself in the midst of conviviality. They call themselves ‘The Pensionados’, and it is easy to guess why. Each has their own story about how they ended up at the Liberation Museum Maastricht and yet there is a common thread: they want to mean something to the next generations.

They can be found at the museum every Wednesday evening and Friday during the day. One is an architect, another knows everything about electricity and yet another refurbishes the bikes that will soon have a place in the museum. They started on Wednesday evenings and during the corona period also came on Fridays, after all, they had some more time to spare. They always start with a cup of coffee and a consultation. What are we going to do today? Who needs help? And then they get to work!

‘The same interest unites us’

The convivial atmosphere and equality are a strength of the entire team working on the museum.Modest they are too, for this story no one needs to be highlighted or named specifically."Everyone gets along and we are all equal.We sometimes jokingly say chef or boss, but that has nothing to do with hierarchy.We all have the same interest and that connects.Our parents all lived through the war, so we know from their stories the impact the war had. By helping to build this museum now, we can keep the stories alive and inspire future generations."

Taking good care of each other

That it is a close-knit club is shown by how they treat each other. "When someone is sick he gets messages from the others.And if you need help with something, we are there for each other.That's very nice."Such a good relationship is not always obvious either, they all know from their years of work experience.That is precisely why it is so much fun.The Pensionados also sometimes have dinner together, with the women.And of course there are sometimes discussions or differences of opinion, but they always resolve these in a pleasant way.

Voluntary work without obligations

It is voluntary work, which in many places is a job in disguise, with the necessary obligations and expectations attached. "That is not the case here at all. You have the freedom to come and go, there is no pressure. As a result, it doesn't feel like an obligation and, on the contrary, we all enjoy coming! There must be really good reasons not to attend on the job days. That shows how motivated we are. The bond of trust is very strong and we get all the space we need to build the museum. It really is one big family!"

‘We are building the museum for future generations.’

Ultimately, the aim of the museum is to generate interest among young people so that they really learn what war is all about and what happens. We want to wake them up, show them what happens when a situation gets out of hand. The Liberation Museum Maastricht is also different from your average war museum. There, you read and hear lots of stories and see items from the war. Here, it's really about the mechanisms that get war going. We want to show the young people who visit us how they are influenced by (social) media. And its impact is much bigger than they realise. This is not just about wars abroad, just as much about what happens close by. How people treat each other and how easily judgements are made. The atmosphere that we create together as a team during construction and preparation, and the harmony in which we work together to realise the museum, we hope to convey to visitors as well. If we can strike a chord with this museum, really get young people thinking, we can really make a difference.

Will you help us?

We could really use all the help we can get to make Bevrijdingsmuseum Maastricht a reality. Donations can come in various forms: material, sponsorship and money. You can read more about this on our donation page. Would you like to get involved or do you have a question?

Feel free to contact us!