Shelter for Workers

"Unlike today, London Street and Cadix Street were the outer limit of the city in the sixties and seventies. Everything beyond that was port," says Paul De Wit. "There were a few schools, which brought some young people around, but those students rarely went further than London Street. Today, Eilandje is an expensive place to live. In the sixties and seventies, it was primarily skippers and sailors who called this place home. Moreover, it was a rough neighborhood. Bars like Big Ben, Atlantic, 't Licht der Dokken... those were cafes where people often got 'clobbered.'"

The Antwerp port was the scene of a wild, non-union-recognized dockworkers' strike in 1973 that lasted no less than nine weeks. "In my book, I describe that tumultuous port history not chronologically, but I do give a good impression of how things went back then."

One of the port buildings mentioned in the novel is the Refuge for Workers on London Street. An imposing complex built in 1908, originally constructed for dockworkers. They were housed there, recruited, and could eat cheaply in the soup kitchen. The building still stands today and is now an event location.

GVA - Gazet van Antwerpen