1914-1918 : The occupation

Child is King

Children in short pants, their arms loaded with toys, sweets and warm clothes. On 6 December 1914, Ixelles celebrated Saint Nicolas. The war seemed very distant, but nevertheless influenced the tradition: “How could we explain the absence of Saint Nicolas this year? The kids would not understand”, claimed a local magazine. The problem is worse for the less wealthy: “The privileged can cope with it, for them it is Saint Nicolas all year round! But for the others, those whose parents depend on public charity for the happiness of their children?”. The Ixelles section of Les Pauvres honteux (literally “the embarrassed poor”) organized a “Saint Nicolas for the poor”. The children, symbols of innocence trampled by the war, were at the heart of civilian mobilization in 1914-1918.