The Day Willemstad Burned 🇨🇼 | Curaçao 1969 — The Untold Story

On May 30, 1969, a workers’ protest in Curaçao escalated into an uprising. Parts of Willemstad burned, two people lost their lives, and the island entered a period of profound political change. This episode of UNTOLD explores Trinta di Mei through historical photographs, archival footage and present-day views of Willemstad. We trace the labour dispute at Wescar, a contractor working for Shell, the call for equal pay, the march towards Fort Amsterdam, the confrontation at Parera, and the fires that spread through Punda and Otrobanda. Along the way, we examine the roles of Ewald Ong A Kwie, Wilson “Papa” Godett, Amador Nita and Stanley Brown — and the economic pressures and racial inequalities that shaped the events. The story continues beyond the fires: the government’s resignation, the emergence of Frente Obrero Liberashon 30 di Mei, and the struggle for greater political representation. This documentary approaches a painful and significant chapter of Curaçao’s history with care, acknowledging both the workers’ grievances and the lives and livelihoods affected by the violence. 💬 Does your family have memories of Trinta di Mei? You are welcome to share them respectfully in the comments. If you have a historical correction or additional information, please include a source where possible. ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ 📚 HISTORICAL SOURCES • Nationaal Archief Curaçao — 30 mei 1969: https://nationaalarchief.cw/exposities/30-mei-1969/ • Nationaal Archief, Netherlands — Curaçao Trinta di Mèi: https://www.nationaalarchief.nl/beleven/nieuws/curacao-trinta-di-mei • Canon van Curaçao — Dertig Mei 1969: https://canoncuracao.cw/30-dertig-mei-1969/ • Andere Tijden — Papa Godett: https://anderetijden.nl/aflevering/492/Papa-Godett • Caribisch Netwerk / NTR — Stanley Brown: https://caribischnetwerk.ntr.nl/2022/11/17/stanley-brown-afscheid-van-de-laatste-revolutionair-van-curacao/ • Geschiedenis Magazine — Willemstad brandt: https://geschiedenismagazine.nl/trinta-di-mei 🎞️ ARCHIVAL MATERIAL Historical photographs sourced from the Nationaal Archief Curaçao exhibition. Individual photographers and collections are credited where identified. Archival newsreel: “Hevige onlusten” — Polygoon-Profilti (producer) / Nederlands Instituut voor Beeld en Geluid (custodian), via Open Beelden. Source and licensing information: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Hevige_onlusten_Weeknummer,_69-23_-_Open_Beelden_-_59355.ogv CC BY-SA 3.0 Netherlands: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/nl/ ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ 🌴 DISCOVER THE REAL CURAÇAO Explore our beach guides, maps, bus routes and more: https://www.therealcuracao.com ▶️ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@LifeResetCaribbean 📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/therealcuracaoofficial 📘 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thelifereset 👥 Facebook Community: https://www.facebook.com/share/g/1G9Tf6ttiu/?mibextid=wwXIfr 🎵 TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@therealcuracao 🧵 Threads: https://www.threads.net/@therealcuracaoofficial 𝕏 X: https://x.com/thereal_curacao 📌 Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/therealcuracao ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ #Curacao #TrintaDiMei #Willemstad #CuracaoHistory #UntoldStory