Woman in traditional Dutch costume in Scheveningen, Netherlands, 1966. The dark shawl in this black-and-white image (black I assume) is an adaptation of the dress worn during mourning.
Background
Summer of 1966 – at the age of 14– I took this candid paparazzi style close-up photo with the all-manual Voigtländer Vito camera below from the beach at the North Sea , looking up at daily life of these women wearing traditional Dutch costumes on the Boulevard in Scheveningen, Netherlands.
Citation info : Scheveningen Woman • Portrait #2 • Michel van der Burg • Miracles•Media • @1MEMO 20251116 • TakeNode 754ed9d9-ef57-47dc-868a-64f55f41ab4b
Close encounter – I was attacked later that day , when getting too close while taking such a portrait photo, but escaped falling backwards. Balinese long-tailed macaque, semi-wild in the Sacred Monkey Forest Sanctuary in Ubud , Bali, Indonesia, Sep. 2000.
English – 🇬🇧 Street Art Simon — Episode #6 of Miracles Docs — captures the emotional unveiling of a mural created by artist HYER honoring Holocaust survivor Simon Gronowski at the S2J School Center in Liège, Belgium. Through Simon’s testimony and message of hope, the film celebrates resilience, remembrance, and the enduring beauty of life.
Français – 🇫🇷 Street Art Simon — épisode #6 de la série Miracles Docs — retrace l’émouvante inauguration d’une fresque murale réalisée par l’artiste HYER en hommage au survivant de la Shoah Simon Gronowski, au Centre Scolaire S2J de Liège. À travers le témoignage de Simon et son message d’espérance, le film célèbre la résilience, la mémoire et la beauté de la vie.
Intro
Unveiling of the street art mural created by HYER , a tribute depicting the story and credo of Simon Gronowski, in the Garden of Remembrance and Memory of the S2J School Center in Liège, Belgium, on Saturday, May 17, 2025.
Saturday 17 May 2025, Simon Gronowski arrives at the Station Liège-Guillemins — invited for a surprise event at the S2J School Center in Liège, Belgium.
Surprise
After climbing the stairs to S2J school’s hanging garden, Simon has his first encounter with this street art mural on the S2J school’s garden wall, and with the Liège artist HYER.
Inauguration
In her opening speech Antonia Hicter (Principal, S2J School Center) recounted on the history, rationale, and team of this mural project, and the memorial work — the duty of remembrance at S2J .
Next, Philippe Renette (Teacher, S2J School Center) described Simon Gronowski’s impact on the school, the students, and the teachers during Simon’s regular school visits over the past 12 years. Philippe Renette further explained how this inauguration of the mural also marked the first step in the development of S2J’s ‘Jardin du Souvenir et de la Mémoire’—the Garden of Remembrance and Memory. Renette concluded by describing this work of art ‘that reads like a book, that is, from left to right, and that unfolds like a tracking shot in a movie’.
Simon Gronowski
Simon Gronowski in his speech focussed on the main points of his history and his message:
The Nazis killed my mother, my sister, in the gas chamber, at Auschwitz-Birkenau. And my father, died, just after the war, in July 1945, in despair.
And I myself, at 11 years old, the Gestapo took me, threw me into a prison, the Dossin barracks in Mechelen.
And after a month of internment, they deported me, in the 20th convoy, and by some miracle, I got out of the train, and I escaped.
A miracle. I was 11 years old. … I do not bring today, nor previously… in this school and elsewhere… a message, of negativity, or sorrow.
I bring a message, of hope and happiness.
Never forget, life is beautiful.
But it’s a daily struggle. You have to fight every day. Because no one is sheltered from life’s trials.
Misfortune can happen to anyone. We can lose a loved one, in a road accident for example, or through illness. When it happens, when misfortune happens, you have to face it with courage.
I’m not saying I’m courageous, by the way, but I say this for everyone, one must overcome. Fidelity to the deceased person, is to live fully and happily.
And despite today’s tragic events. I keep my faith in the future , because I deeply believe , in human kindness…
Long Live Peace And Friendship Among Men !
Simon concluded – “to let off steam a little” – with two of his favourite pieces of music , playing on a keyboard.
Street Art Simon • Miracles Docs #6 • 20251019 • French (original) • Subtitles: English 🇬🇧 Open Captions & French 🇫🇷 Closed Captions (CC)
Notes
Unveiling of the street art mural created by HYER, a tribute to Simon Gronowski in the Garden of Remembrance , S2J School Center (Jardin du Souvenir et de la Mémoire , Centre Scolaire S2J) , Liège, Belgium, Saturday 17 May 2025.
Thanks to Simon Gronowski, the S2J team, and especially former student Maxime Louis for his last minute helping hand with the keyboard.
Social Edition dd 20251019 This ‘social’ edition of the video dd 20251019 has burned in English captions facilitating posting at social media.
Clean Edition dd 20251012 A first ‘clean’ edition of this film (with no burned in captions) with closed captions (CC) for both English and French was published dd 20251012 at miracles.media/2025/10/12 . Reference : Street Art Simon – CC | Miracles Docs #6 | Miracles•Media | 20251012 | ISAN 0000-0007-329C-0006-G-0000-0000-Q
Upload YouTube : Street Art Simon • Miracles Docs #6 • 20251019 🇫🇷🇬🇧
Citation info : Street Art Simon | Miracles Docs #6 | Miracles•Media | 20251019 | ISAN 0000-0007-329C-0006-G-0000-0001-O | Source : miracles.media/2025/10/19
English – 🇬🇧 Street Art Simon — Episode #6 of Miracles Docs — captures the emotional unveiling of a mural created by artist HYER honoring Holocaust survivor Simon Gronowski at the S2J School Center in Liège, Belgium. Through Simon’s testimony and message of hope, the film celebrates resilience, remembrance, and the enduring beauty of life.
Français – 🇫🇷 Street Art Simon — épisode #6 de la série Miracles Docs — retrace l’émouvante inauguration d’une fresque murale réalisée par l’artiste HYER en hommage au survivant de la Shoah Simon Gronowski, au Centre Scolaire S2J de Liège. À travers le témoignage de Simon et son message d’espérance, le film célèbre la résilience, la mémoire et la beauté de la vie.
Intro
Unveiling of the street art mural created by HYER , a tribute depicting the story and credo of Simon Gronowski, in the Garden of Remembrance and Memory of the S2J School Center in Liège, Belgium, on Saturday, May 17, 2025.
Saturday 17 May 2025, Simon Gronowski arrives at the Station Liège-Guillemins — invited for a surprise event at the S2J School Center in Liège, Belgium.
Surprise
After climbing the stairs to S2J school’s hanging garden, Simon has his first encounter with this street art mural on the S2J school’s garden wall, and with the Liège artist HYER.
Inauguration
In her opening speech Antonia Hicter (Principal, S2J School Center) recounted on the history, rationale, and team of this mural project, and the memorial work — the duty of remembrance at S2J .
Next, Philippe Renette (Teacher, S2J School Center) described Simon Gronowski’s impact on the school, the students, and the teachers during Simon’s regular school visits over the past 12 years. Philippe Renette further explained how this inauguration of the mural also marked the first step in the development of S2J’s ‘Jardin du Souvenir et de la Mémoire’—the Garden of Remembrance and Memory. Renette concluded by describing this work of art ‘that reads like a book, that is, from left to right, and that unfolds like a tracking shot in a movie’.
Simon Gronowski
Simon Gronowski in his speech focussed on the main points of his history and his message:
The Nazis killed my mother, my sister, in the gas chamber, at Auschwitz-Birkenau. And my father, died, just after the war, in July 1945, in despair.
And I myself, at 11 years old, the Gestapo took me, threw me into a prison, the Dossin barracks in Mechelen.
And after a month of internment, they deported me, in the 20th convoy, and by some miracle, I jumped off the train, and I escaped.
A miracle. I was 11 years old. … I do not bring today, nor previously… in this school and elsewhere… a message, of negativity, or sorrow.
I bring a message, of hope and happiness.
Never forget, life is beautiful.
But it’s a daily struggle. You have to fight every day. Because no one is sheltered from life’s trials.
Misfortune can happen to anyone. We can lose a loved one, in a road accident for example, or through illness. When it happens, when misfortune happens, you have to face it with courage.
I’m not saying I’m courageous, by the way, but I say this for everyone, one must overcome. Fidelity to the deceased person, is to live fully and happily.
And despite today’s tragic events. I keep my faith in the future , because I deeply believe , in human kindness…
Long Live Peace And Friendship Among Men !
Simon concluded – “to let off steam a little” – with two of his favourite pieces of music , playing on a keyboard.
Street Art Simon • Miracles Docs #6 • CC ⚙ 🇬🇧🇫🇷 • 20251012
Notes
Unveiling of the street art mural created by HYER, a tribute to Simon Gronowski in the Garden of Remembrance , S2J School Center (Jardin du Souvenir et de la Mémoire , Centre Scolaire S2J) , Liège, Belgium, Saturday 17 May 2025.
Thanks to Simon Gronowski, the S2J team, and especially former student Maxime Louis for his last minute helping hand with the keyboard.
Unveiling of the mural created by HYER , depicting the story and credo of Simon Gronowski in the Garden of Remembrance of the S2J School Center (Centre Scolaire S2J) in Liège, Belgium, on Saturday, May 17, 2025.
Music video
Music video created with a tracking shot, and Simon Gronowski’s musical improvisation during the ceremony, by Michel van der Burg (Miracles•Media) in cooperation with Philippe Renette , co-producer , teacher at S2J School Center.
Credo
Moi, Je garde ma foi en l’avenir, car je crois moi profondement en la bonté humaine… Vive La Paix Et L’Amitié Entre Les Hommes !
I keep my faith in the future, because I deeply believe in human kindness… Long Live Peace And Friendship Among Men !
Simon’s Credo • Michel van der Burg • Miracles•Media • @1MEMO 20250518 • TakeNode f8a73334-ee85-4f13-810a-381863407115
Notes
Citation info : Simon’s Credo | Miracles Moment #4 | Miracles•Media | 20250521 | ISAN 0000-0007-36B4-0004-6-0000-0000-J | TakeNode 2c2513ca-9580-4098-993a-78573db1d6be
Summer 1997, Onno Terpstra, the head of our Surgery Department, asked me to explore our options for starting clinical islet isolation and transplantation in our center – the Leiden University Medical Center (LUMC), and prepare a roadmap.
September 1997, at the IPITA congress in Milan (1) , I learned from Camillo Ricordi, the scientific director of the Diabetes Research Institute (DRI) in Miami – where many guest collaborators work – that visiting the DRI some weeks might be a good option to gain sufficient first work experience in his clinical islet transplantation group.
December 1997, with a ‘Roadmap’, I got the green light to start the operationalization of clinical islet transplantation in the LUMC, first with a working visit to Miami to study the state of the art ‘Ricordi’ method of human islet isolation, and then start the human islet isolation work in our Surgery lab in Leiden.
In 1990 I had already gained some initial research experience in our Leiden Islet Laboratory with a small number of isolations of islets from human donor organs, using our innovative method of density gradient purification based on the UW solution (2).
During the first three months of 1998 I worked intensively with my student colleague Josephine Rijkelijkhuizen so that she would be able to continue our xenotransplantation research project as independently as possible in our Surgery research team.
April 1998, after participating in the 1st Workshop on Clinical Islet Transplantation in New Orleans (3) – the ideal introduction – a fruitful working visit to the DRI in Miami followed (4,5), with intensive collaboration with the DRI team on, among other things, six human islet isolations, and also the simultaneously (parallel) conducted research into the purification of the human islets in our Iodixanol gradient in UW-Solution (6).
Here a slideshow illustrating this team up with the DRI team in Miami , working on human islet isolation and purification in the innovative Iodixanol-UWS gradient, April-May 1998.
Notes
1) Innovative Islet Purification in Iodixanol-UWS • IPITA 97 • Michel van der Burg • Miracles.Media • @1MEMO 20250128 • TakeNode • URL michelvanderburg.com/2025/01/28/
2) Percoll UWS Purification Pancreatic Islets • ESOT 1991 Talk • Michel van der Burg • Miracles.Media • @1MEMO 20250114 • URL michelvanderburg.com/2025/01/14/
3) Invited participant 1st Workshop on Clinical Islet Transplantation, New Orleans (LA, USA) April 17–19, 1998
4) Working visit April – May 1998 at the “fast track” center of the Diabetes Research Institute (Scientific director Prof. C. Ricordi, MD) of the University of Miami (Miami, FL, USA)
Citation info : Human Islet Isolation • DRI Miami 1998 • Michel van der Burg • Miracles.Media • @1MEMO 20250204 • TakeNode 86e4a319-a769-44d5-8fa5-de2ca90ab63c • URL michelvanderburg.com/2025/02/04/
DRI Dream Team • Miami 1998 • Michel van der Burg • Miracles.Media • 20250105_1 • TakeNode e6258505-55a8-4365-bb70-7a1dcd7b5426
Team up with researchers at the Diabetes Research Institute in Miami , working on human islet transplantation (1).
“For National Geographic…” announced Camillo Ricordi for fun, that Monday , April 27th in 1998 at the Diabetes Research Institute, when the DRI islet isolation team posed in GMP outfit for this picture (2) — with Elina Linetsky on the left , and me standing second from right — taken after finishing our human islet isolation work, including islet purification in the iodixanol gradient in UW-Solution (3).
Notes
1) Working visit April – May 1998 at the “fast track” center of the Diabetes Research Institute (Scientific director Prof. C. Ricordi, MD) of the University of Miami (Miami, FL, USA)
2) Blown up image (from small GIF online in the early DRInet days), taken through a reflecting window.
3) Human Islet Purification Miami 1998 • Michel van der Burg • Miracles.Media • 20181102 • URL michelvanderburg.com/2018/11/02/
Citation info : DRI Dream Team • Michel van der Burg • Miracles.Media • @1MEMO 20250105 • URL michelvanderburg.com/2025/01/05/
