People treated as commodities, in an exchange designed to allow Belgium to win the “bataille du charbon” and to promise Italy a way out of the poverty of the postwar years. For those who answered the call—from north to south of Italy (especially from Sicily, Puglia, Abruzzo, Campania, and Veneto)—the exchange instead meant being uprooted from their homeland in the hope of a better life, a hope that quickly gave way to harsh living conditions and extreme labor.

When the agreements ended in 1957, many chose to remain and later be joined by their families. According to some sources, by 1961 Italians accounted for 44.2% of Belgium’s foreign population.

The French-speaking region of Wallonia was one of Europe’s most important coal basins, with four major mining sites: Bois-du-Luc, Grand-Hornu, Bois du Cazier (remembered for the 1956 Marcinelle disaster), and Blegny-Mine—today all listed as UNESCO World Heritage sites.