How Did Belgium Grow During The Great Depression

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Throughout the 1930’s Belgium made a gradual recovery from the depression caused by World War I. Initially, Belgium’s unemployment rate was at 25% by 1939 Belgium recovered to about 10% unemployment because of small businesses started by locals. The Italians ran the small leather stores and the French had their bakeries, but the always smiling jewish family the Bancroft’s always had a line that stretched far beyond the aroma of their Ezekiel bread.
The brilliant Belgian baker James Bancroft worked in the back, perfecting the consistency of the famous dough with his young-minded daughter Annalisa, who had black curly hair. On 887 Rue Leopold I Avenue, you are first greeted by the ever so happy Elam Bancroft, who worked in the front and collected money. Once Elam, only 15 but already done with secondary school, got the weight of the bread he would always do the math in his head to calculate the total cost. The children only got to see their mother 3 times a year but wrote to her once a month, for she had a very important government job in Brussels. James missed her …show more content…

With a stronger but still weak government, the Belgians had a feeling they were next. The Bancroft’s resided in Antwerp, in a double flat with the Rosencrans family. Peter and his wife Rachael Rosencrans were great neighbors, also their son, Asher, loved to play with Elam. One day, James decided to rip down his “Bancroft’s Bakery” sign and replaced it with a sign that said “Town Bakery”. To most people, it was not a huge deal, but Elam and Annalisa attacked their father continually asking him why. As everyone in the land guessed, the Nazi’s marched into Belgium in May. As they made their way all the way up to Antwerp. The bakery continued to be open. Soon enough, James advised the children to not mention anything of their last names. ‘From now on,” James whispered to Elam and Annalisa on a warm spring day, “we are the Michiels

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