Banners flutter, fists greet

In the year that Sint-Niklaas celebrates its 800th anniversary, the socialist movement in the Wase capital reveals its history, with the expo ‘Het Grote Rode Verhaal’ at the Volkshuis and gets a permanent place in the Art Deco building. There is not only an expo.

The socialist movement also mapped out a walk along the most prominent places in Sint-Niklaas where the socialist story was written. Among others, it runs through the Tabaksstraat, where many workers used to work in the cigar factories, past the former Bond Moyson in Mercatorstraat, the former cooperative shop in Truweelstraat to the Volkshuis.

The project is an initiative of ABW-Waasland. It was realised in cooperation with the AMSAB and financially supported by ABW, SP and Bond Moyson of Waasland.

A first publication resulted from it in 1996, edited by Geert Van Goethem (AMSAB-Antwerp), with the title Vaandels ruisen, vuisten groeten. The work dealt mainly with the founding period of the socialist movement in Sint-Niklaas, from around 1895 until the outbreak of
the Second World War. The period after the war was covered only briefly.

A second phase was therefore launched in July 1997. The publication Banners murmur, Fists salute.
Volume II covers the period 1945-1975. A brief chapter was also devoted to the occupation
and liberation (which, who knows, might later turn into a third publication). The format of this second volume has become somewhat broader. This time, not only the town of Sint-Niklaas but the whole district is scrutinised, entirely in line with the evolution that the socialist movement in the Waasland region underwent during this period. The trade union as well as the party and the sick association are covered. A chapter is also devoted to the women’s movement.