Heart of Coal

In the summer of 1956, in a small town in Belgium called Marcinelle, disaster struck. Marcinelle was a coal mining town. Belgium in the 19th century was one of the most heavily industrialized countries in Europe, and coal was a big part of fuelling that industry. The mine at Marcinelle had been active since 1822 and had survived two world wars, fought intensely and bloodily in that part of the world. 

Belgium and Italy had signed a 'men for coal' deal in 1946, which gave Italian miners the chance to escape the poverty of postwar Italy and bring their expertise and fortitude to a new coalface. Italy, in exchange, got cheaper coal to help revive their ravaged economy. 

Over one hundred thousand miners over ten years headed north to make a living underground. By the mid fifties, then, the Italians in Belgium, often shunned by locals and obliged to live and work in stark conditions, had created for themselves and their families a distinct way of life, and the chance of a more prosperous future.

Sadly for many that future was cut short. On that morning in August, a poorly placed mining cart in an elevator cut through some cables, causing a fire in the Marcinelle mine.  There were 274 miners below ground; the fire created toxic gas, all but 12 of the men suffocated to death. This colossal tragedy took the lives of 136 Italians, mostly from the Northeastern regions of Friuli and Veneto. The youngest of the dead was the 16 year old Agostino Sacco.

Cut to this year, and the community of people who use, develop, and generally appreciate the content management system Joomla. (you use it to make websites). In Italy, one of the key members of that community is Druskus. He's also an oldbie in Opensim, owner of the historic Clone Life grid, and these days, of ZoneNations grid  and you may know his social site, Hype Metaverse, aimed at gamers of all kinds, but with quite a few opensim people on it.