Tears over Mortsel. I used to live in Mortsel, a suburb of Antwerp in Belgium. On 5th April 1943, 70 years ago, American bombers attacked a plane factory nearby and killed 1000 Belgian civilians, including 200 children. Such is "total war".
How unfortunate that this suburb has a name where the first four letters, "mort", mean death in French. Sadly, that is the first thing I think of when I see the name of that suburb plastered over this photo. Regards ChrisM.
Hello Chris, I looked up Wikipedia for the origins of Mortsel, and although the etymology of these place names is often vague and uncertain, according to what I found, the original spelling was Mortsella. It has Germanic origins from 1158 (I'm not sure why they give such an exact date), from "mor" meaning swamp, and "sali" meaning "one roomed house". So it seems to mean "a one roomed house built on a swamp". Not very romantic, but then I also lived in another suburb called "Zwijndrecht" which means a place for swine. I now live in a suburb which was originally called "Billy Goat Hill". I must move to somewhere with a more impressive name, such as "Manly".
Thanks for writing about my book. I hope you can also read the newer version. http://pieterserrien.wordpress.com/2013/03/04/heruitgave-van-tranen-over-mortsel/
How unfortunate that this suburb has a name where the first four letters, "mort", mean death in French. Sadly, that is the first thing I think of when I see the name of that suburb plastered over this photo. Regards ChrisM.
ReplyDeleteHello Chris, I looked up Wikipedia for the origins of Mortsel, and although the etymology of these place names is often vague and uncertain, according to what I found, the original spelling was Mortsella. It has Germanic origins from 1158 (I'm not sure why they give such an exact date), from "mor" meaning swamp, and "sali" meaning "one roomed house". So it seems to mean "a one roomed house built on a swamp".
DeleteNot very romantic, but then I also lived in another suburb called "Zwijndrecht" which means a place for swine.
I now live in a suburb which was originally called "Billy Goat Hill".
I must move to somewhere with a more impressive name, such as "Manly".
Thanks for writing about my book.
ReplyDeleteI hope you can also read the newer version.
http://pieterserrien.wordpress.com/2013/03/04/heruitgave-van-tranen-over-mortsel/
My best wishes,
Pieter Serrien
Thank you, Mr Serrien, I certainly will.
Delete