L'Italo-Americano

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 5, 2024 www.italoamericano.org 14 L'Italo-Americano LA VITA ITALIANA TRADITIONS HISTORY CULTURE D e a r r e a d e r s , S e p t e m b e r b r i n g s t h e Italian labor swap for Bel- g i a n c o a l o f 1 9 4 6 a s m y Labor Day rerun in memo- ry of all those old-timers who toiled throughout the world under deplorable con- ditions, so that their chil- dren might have a brighter future. *** In 1946, there was a fuel s h o r t a g e i n I t a l y a n d a shortage of miners in Bel- g i u m , s o g o v e r n m e n t bureaucrats of both coun- tries signed a deal to trade Italian men for Belgian coal. F i f t y t h o u s a n d i m p o v e r - ished, unemployed Italians w e r e t o b e s e n t i n s h i f t s from collection centers in Milan to work the mines of Wallonia, in southern Bel- gium. In return, the Italian government would receive 200 kilos of coal for each new miner, amounting to 2 or 3 million tons each year. Italy solved its fuel shortage and Belgium expanded its workforce. It was the begin- ning of the Italian commu- n i t y i n B e l g i u m , n o w 300,000 strong. *** T h e e m i g r a n t s , m o s t l y peasants, had no idea of the agreement that had been signed or the kind of life they were going to. The men received no training at all. Mostly, they were peasants w h o h a d n e v e r h e a r d o f mines before. On their first d a y , a t h o u s a n d m e t e r s below surface, many won- dered where the windows were. Italy did not inspect the accommodations pro- vided for the miners, and for the first few years, home turned out to be the bar- racks of former concentra- t i o n c a m p s b u i l t b y t h e Nazis to house slave work- e r s . N o q u e s t i o n s w e r e asked regarding safety in t h e m i n e s , w h i c h d a t e d from the 1890s, and were in disrepair. More than 1,000 Italians died over the fol- l o w i n g 1 0 y e a r s i n m i n e a c c i d e n t s . O t h e r s w e r e killed by silicosis and other mine-related illnesses. *** T h e n , o n A u g u s t 8 , 1956, a devastating pit fire choked 262 people in a mat- ter of minutes in the mine o f B o i s d u C a s i e r a t M a r c i n e l l e , n e a r t h e industrial city of Charleroi. 186 of them were Italians. The official verdict at the inquest was that the acci- d e n t h a d b e e n c a u s e d b y human error. The fire started at 8 in t h e m o r n i n g , t h e g a s released did the rest. For t h e g r e a t m a j o r i t y o f t h e m i n e r s , w o r k i n g w i t h o u t oxygen masks, there was no escape. Only 13 survived. Silvio di Luzio recalled he was part of an 18-strong res- cue team sent from a nearby m i n e : " W e g o t t h e r e a t 8 . 3 0 , " h e r e c a l l s . " T h i c k black smoke was coming out of the shaft. You could hard- ly breathe outside the mine. We went in for consecutive shifts for 15 days. We res- c u e d a n d s l e p t . A l l w e b r o u g h t o u t , a p a r t f r o m s e v e n g u y s f i r s t d a y , w e w e r e c o r p s e s . I t w a s j u s t hell." *** The rescue lasted 55 days. O f f i c i a l l y , a l l b u t f i v e corpses were recovered and b u r i e d u n d e r t h e s o l e m n m o n u m e n t o f M a r c i n e l l e Cemetery, but the miners insist that dozens of coffins were filled with stones to g i v e t h e f a m i l i e s a n d t h e government peace of mind. "What I'll never forget is the sight of the families press- ing against the gates of the m i n e w h e n t h e n e w s spread," di Luzio adds. "The Red Cross provided some tents, and they stayed for days. "Of course, we knew — all the miners knew — that those trapped would have died like mice in a matter of hours." *** " We did not know about the deal that had been made o r a b o u t t h e d a n g e r s o f Advancing our Legacy: Italian Community Services CASA FUGAZI If you know of any senior of Italian descent in San Francisco needing assistance, please contact: ItalianCS.org | (415) 362-6423 | info@italiancs.com Italian Community Services continues to assist Bay Area Italian-American seniors and their families navigate and manage the resources needed to live healthy, independent and productive lives. Since Shelter-in-Place began in San Francisco, Italian Community Services has delivered over 240 meals, over 900 care packages and made over 2000 phone wellness checks for our seniors. mine work," said Vittorio Dal Gal, president of the former Miners Association, who arrived at Marcinelle w h e n h e w a s 2 1 . " A l l w e knew was that there was no w o r k a n d t h a t a B e l g i a n franc was worth 12 Italian l i r e . T h e i l l n e s s e s a n d deprivation came as a shock to most of us. The fact was t h a t w e h a d t o w o r k t h e mines for five years before we could look for any other j o b , " h e a d d s . " M a n y s t a r v e d t h e m s e l v e s , scrimped and saved to be off after those five years. They went back home but died of long trouble. Those first five years were forced labor." *** The tragedy of Marcinelle was to mark a sea of change in the treatment of Italians in Belgium. Up until then, we had been called "maca- roni" and "Mussolini" by the Belgians. There was a l o t o f r a c i s m . A f t e r M a r c i n e l l e , t h e B e l g i a n s realized that we were just h o n e s t p e o p l e t r y i n g t o m a k e a n h o n e s t l i v i n g . T r a g e d y a l s o m e a n t t h a t safety became an issue: we are alive today only thanks to those who died then. The mines were all closed by the early 60s, sparing the next generation. After the clo- sures, most former miners were absorbed into the steel i n d u s t r y a n d a s i z a b l e minority into the profes- s i o n s . T o d a y , t h e I t a l i a n community in Belgium is t h r i v i n g a n d i n t e g r a t e d . Italian is the third language spoken in the country, after French and Flemish.

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