Belgium

Born in 1998 in Leuven, Belgium
High-school student (8/2015)

"5 April 1943, Mortsel" (2014)

The work by Thomas Dirven deals with the collateral damage done by the Allied forces in Mortsel, a suburb of Antwerp, in WW II. On April 5, 1943 a residential area in Mortsel was accidentally attacked by Allied bombers. 936 civilians, including 209 children, were killed. It was the biggest collateral damage during World War II. Two of the author’s great-aunts were survivors of the attack. Thomas interviewed them as well as one of their friends, another eyewitness. By evaluating the interviews, Thomas analyses the grim actualities of their lives as children. The competition entry explicates the contradictions between Belgian’s hope for liberation by the Allies on the one hand, and the deadly air-raid the Allied troops were responsible for. Of course, the Nazi regime used the collateral damage and the death of civilians for their propaganda in a very efficient way. The catastrophe’s connection to his family was a starting point for Thomas’ research. However, he did not stop there but conducted comprehensive and critical research on the ambiguous topic of collateral damage by comparing press articles from the German and “Allied” news.

For his study, Thomas was awarded the first prize in the Dutch-speaking part of the Belgium History Competition in 2013/2014.

Click here to read an English summary of Thomas' work.