Tributes to the Brussels attacks go online
22 March 2018 will mark the second anniversary of the terrible attacks in Zaventem and Maelbeek. At the time, thousands of tribute messages to the victims were left in front of the Bourse de Bruxelles (The Brussels Stock Exchange), which has since become a symbolic location. These displays of support for the victims and their families were left by anyone who wanted or needed to do so, whether or not they were directly affected by the attacks; however, the Brussels authorities had to remove them from Place de la Bourse after several weeks.
Many of these displays of love and peace have now been published on the website of the Archives of the City of Brussels. At the time, the Archives department had taken the initiative of collecting the many messages and drawings and digitising them to keep a permanent record of these testimonies against the terrorist atrocity.
A total of 3,500 messages and 5,000 photos have been collected. In view of the extremely sensitive nature of the subject, the Archives chose not to publish photos of victims or highly personal messages, but to focus on many of the drawings, often created by children, and photographed by the Archives. These can now be seen by clicking here.