this post was submitted on 23 Jan 2026
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HistoryPhotos

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Coal miners stuffed in a tiny elevator after a day's work, Belgium, 1920s (media.piefed.social)
submitted 1 week ago by PugJesus@piefed.social to c/historyphotos@piefed.social
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[–] x00z@lemmy.world 12 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

It's Italians that migrated to Belgium to work. Belgians didn't want to work in dangerous mines and Italy had an extreme amount of unemployment. Belgium and Italy made an agreement that would benefit both. Cheap workers for Belgium and less unemployment plus easy coal for Italy.

Part of the deal for Italian workers that accepted the 5 year contract was at least 1 year of mandatory labor. Besides that it was for many Italians one of the only jobs available.

https://thehistoryinsider.com/photo-of-a-crude-elevator-crammed-with-miners/