Marcinelle 1956
| Author: Sergio Salma | Date of publication: 29/08/2012 |
Soft Cover
Pages: 264
Dimensions: cm 17.2x24x2.3
Price: € 17.00
iSBN: 2203022256
EAN: 9782203022256
To many Marcinelle and the year 1956 will mean nothing. However, with relations who were miners in Welsh collieries I’d heard of this when I was younger. It is a cheat in a way but I think to understand what this book is about I can do no better than to cite Wikipedia and point readers in that direction:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marcinelle
“On the morning of August 8, 1956, a fire in the mines of Marcinelle resulted in 262 casualties. At the time of the incident, 274 people were working in the colliery of Bois du Cazier, also known as Puits Saint-Charles. A mining wagon incorrectly positioned in the elevator cage struck an oil pipe and electrical cables when the elevator started moving. This caused a fire, which trapped the miners working in the galleries below. Of the 274 people working on that morning, only twelve survived. Most of the victims were immigrants. Among the victims, there were 136 Italians, 95 Belgians, eight Poles, six Greeks, five Germans, five Frenchmen, three Hungarians, one Englishman, one Dutchman, one Russian and one Ukrainian.
Rescue operations continued until August 23 when the final verdict came from the mouth of a rescuer: “Tutti cadaveri!” (All corpses). The incident prompted Italy to demand better working conditions for the Italian guest workers in Belgium. Belgium, however, decided to recruit foreign workers from other countries more actively.
In the resulting prosecution, the trial court acquitted all of the accused on October 1, 1959. An appeal was lodged, and on January 30, 1961, the court gave the mine manager a six-month suspended jail sentence and a 2,000 Belgian francs fine and acquitted the other defendants.
The catastrophe had left such a legacy behind that it was selected as the main motif for a 2006 commemorative coin: the ten-Euro 50th anniversary of the catastrophe “Bois du Cazier” at Marcinelle coin. The obverse shows a portrait of a miner, with the mine “Bois du Cazier” in the background.”
Sergio Salma is a native of this region and this book has been called his most personal work to date.
It’s pretty grim story and there is a text feature with photographs about the event itself.
No comments:
Post a Comment