On 8 August 1956, 70 years ago today, 262 men lost their lives at the Bois du Cazier. Men from Belgium, Italy and many other countries. Entire families. One shared courage: to build a future for their loved ones, whatever it took.
Today, saying you are the son or daughter, grandson or granddaughter of a miner is a pride nobody hides in Wallonia. Some would almost like to find roots in the veins of our coal mines, so much has the miner become a symbol of work, of success, of emancipation.
But this story cannot be told without clear eyes. Working conditions were extremely harsh. Living conditions were often undignified. The Bois du Cazier disaster was a bloody reminder of the human price some paid.
To commemorate is not only to look at the past with emotion. It is to look at our present with responsibility.
The Bois du Cazier tells more than a tragedy. It also tells the story of what Wallonia once was: a land that produced, that innovated, that helped power part of the European economy through its industry, its energy, and the work of those who built it: Belgians, Italians, and so many others who came from afar to find their place. This history explains part of our character: work, solidarity, resilience.
For a long time, we saw this history as a legacy of the past. I believe exactly the opposite.
A region that no longer produces depends on others. For its energy. For its jobs. For its technology. Sovereignty is not withdrawal into oneself: it is the ability to master one's own destiny. And our history reminds us that no prosperity is ever guaranteed. Having once been at the centre does not mean staying there. But a people that has already been at the centre can become so again, provided it is willing to get back to work.
This is a lesson for Wallonia today. Not to repeat the past, but to rediscover the ability to produce, to innovate, to build, to believe again in our own strengths. The Bois du Cazier imposes on us an absolute demand: economic progress can never come at the expense of workers' dignity, safety and respect. People must always come first: that priority will never change.
That is why this memory binds us.
For a people that forgets what built it also weakens what it hopes to become.