The European Day of Remembrance of Victims of Terrorism was established after the Madrid Bombings in 2004. Each year since 2005, we remember on this date the victims of terrorist atrocities, regardless of their nationality. These victims of terrorism are both the people who have been the targets of these attacks, and those who lost a relative.
The ceremonies related to this Day of Remembrance are organized by The RAN RVT Working Group of the European Commission. Their main objective is to maintain the network of organizations of victims of terrorism. RAN RVT also wishes to transmit the voices of the victims of terrorism as part of prevention efforts to counter radicalization.
For the 15th ceremony of this Day of Remembrance, the Archives of the City of Brussels lent a box in Plexiglas filled with red paper hearts. This box was deposited at the Bourse shortly after the Brussels attacks of 22 March 2016, and was collected by the Archives Service along with many other documents.
All the collected messages and photos of the places of commemoration taken by the Archives Service have been posted on the Archives website. In all, nearly 4,000 photos and more than 2,500 messages were made accessible. Some of these messages will also be used at the European Day of Remembrance for Victims of Terrorism.