Photo of students from the Free University of Brussels at the national anti-missile demonstration on November 20, 1985.
De Moeial Archive. (CAVA Collection, VUB PHOTO2258_11)
In the 1980s, the so-called anti-missile demonstrations mobilized a great many people. Citizens protested en masse against the stationing of American missiles on Belgian territory and, more generally, against the ongoing nuclear arms race. Similar protests took place in other Western European countries. To this day, the national anti-missile demonstration of October 23, 1983, remains one of the largest demonstrations ever held in Belgium. It managed to mobilize no fewer than 400.000 people. Other major national demonstrations followed in 1985 and 1987.
The students of the Vrije Universiteit Brussel did not remain silent; they joined the demonstrations and reported on them in the student newspaper De Moeial. This photo is part of a photo report taken at the national anti-missile demonstration on October 20, 1985. In the photo, we see students marching under a homemade Moeial/VUB flag. The image appeared in the third volume of De Moeial, published by an independent student editorial team since 1983 and up to the present day.
CAVA digitized both De Moeial and the individual photos that appeared in the magazine or were taken in connection with it.
Drawing about poverty by political cartoonist Gerard Alsteens (GAL), 1981.
GAL Archive. (CAVA Collection, GAL03236.)
A worker, with a globe for a head, bends forward dejectedly. Beside him lies an empty wallet. Political cartoonist GAL, the nom de plume of Gerard Alsteens (b. 1940), frequently showed himself in his long career to be critical, socially conscious, and committed to themes such as inequality and poverty. His drawings appeared in magazines such as The New, Situations, Knack (where he still publishes a drawing weekly), were collected and are regularly exhibited. In addition to the printed press, GAL also provided drawings for campaigns by organizations such as Oxfam, Humanist Youth, or the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU).
This drawing appeared on the cover of the magazine. The UNESCO Courier of October 1981, that the subtitle The Disinherited: the plight of the least developed countries wore.
More than 4000 drawings by Gerard Alsteens were digitized by CAVA and made searchable. Read more here.
Photo of the Independence Front demonstration on November 25, 1944, from the collection of Aloïs Gerlo.
Aloïs Gerlo Archive. (CAVA Collection, FOTO10371_2)
In the turbulent final days of the Second World War, Brussels was repeatedly the scene of large demonstrations, such as this one instigated by the resistance group Onafhankelijkheidsfront/Front de l'Indépendance on November 25, 1944. This snapshot of the demonstration captures the energy and tension of the moment. We see people walking among each other in the Warande Park, with the side wings of the Parliament building in the background. Some appear to be ducking or fleeing, possibly from gendarmerie bullets.
The end of the war was a delicate moment for the Independence Front, which had, among other things, engaged in armed resistance. Many militants, largely from the communist camp, had doubts about the measures of the new government. In their opinion, the government was solely intent on regaining control and restoring the pre-war social order. Not everyone was immediately willing to surrender weapons and fall in line again as an ordinary citizen.
Aloïs Gerlo (1915-1998), who would become the first rector of the Dutch-speaking Vrije Universiteit Brussel in 1969, was one of these activists, just like several other figures from the pioneering years of the VUB. The photo from 1944 is part of his archive and was recently donated to CAVA.
- More about the photo albums of Aloïs Gerlo.
- More about the Independence Front.
- More about the VUB's resistance: Chair Traces of the Resistance and the Resistance path.
Take a closer look at the images
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CAVA collects, preserves, and manages the heritage and archives of the liberal-humanist community in Flanders and Brussels and of the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB).
