German occupation of Luxembourg in World War II

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The military history of Luxembourg during World War II was a period in the history of Luxembourg during which the country was occupied by Nazi Germany during World War II. On 10 May 1940, the German Wehrmacht attacked Luxembourg and quickly defeated its small defence force. Grand Duchess Charlotte, the head of state, managed to flee, together with the main government ministers, just hours before the invasion, and spent the rest of World War II in exile in London, the United Kingdom. The country was under military administration until August 1942, when it was annexed into Greater Germany.

Contents

1 Heim ins Reich
2 The Resistance
3 Collaboration
4 The Fate of Luxembourg's Jews
5 See also

Heim ins Reich

On 2 August 1940, Gustav Simon became civil administrator of Luxembourg, which was proclaimed part of the Gau Moselland. Throughout the occupation, the Nazi authorities under Gauleiter Simon led a propaganda and later terror campaign, known as Heim ins Reich, to convince the population that they were ethnic Germans and a natural part of the Third Reich. The structures of the Luxembourg state were dismantled at once: political parties and independent labour unions were banned, all civil society organisations and the press were subjected to Nazi control, the Reichsmark became the new currency. In September, the Nuremberg laws were introduced. The following month, the Parliament and the Conseil d'Etat were dissolved. Teachers were threatened with losing their job unless they joined Nazi organisations, which led to much increased recruitement from all professions. From 1941 many from Luxembourgs youth were ordered to participate in the Reichsarbeitsdienst.

Public monuments with connotations of national independence were demolished, such as the Gelle Fra, a memorial for voluntary Luxembourg soldiers who had fought in World War I with the French, and the "trees of liberty" that had been planted at the occasion of the hundred year anniversary of Luxembourg's independence in 1939. The Luxembourgish language was banned, replaced by the use of German in schools and all public domains. This included extensive "Germanisation" of public names (Avenue de la liberte or Liberty Avenue, a main street in the capital, was renamed to Adolf Hitler Strasse) and even first names and surnames.

The Resistance

Expecting their propaganda campaign to be successful, the occupation authorities organised a census in 1941 which included seemingly innocuous questions about nationality, mother tongue and ethnicity. Resistance organisations were quick to recognise this as a thinly disguised attempt to incorporate Luxembourg into the Reich and mounted a massive underground awareness-raising campaign, turning the census into a referendum. The result was that 97% declared their Luxembourgish identity, often writing Mir welle bleiwen wat mir sin (We wish to remain what we are) on the census forms.

The state was placed under military occupation until August 1942, when it was formally incorporated into the Third Reich as part of the Gau of Moselland. Luxembourgers were declared to be German citizens and 13,000 were called up for military service.

The Nazi repression and propaganda was met with largely peaceful resistance. The drafting into the Wehrmacht provoked a general strike against the occupying authorities which was violently suppressed: 21 strikers were executed and hundreds more deported to concentration camps. There was also campaign of punitive deportation of Luxembourg citizens to parts of the Reich, as well as attempts to settle ethnic Germans in Luxembourg. Much of the work by the resistance organisations focussed on hiding those drafted into the Wehrmacht.

Collaboration

Collaboration with the Nazi occupation is an aspect less often talked about in Luxembourg. Some historians estimate that the size of the collaboration was approximately similar to that of the resistance. About 2,000 collaborators were found guilty of treason after the end of the war, including nine individuals who were executed. Others remained incarcerated until the 50s, when most were amnestied.

The Fate of Luxembourg's Jews

As in other countries occupied by the Nazis, Luxembourg's Jewish community was decimated. Most of those who had not fled to the country before 1941 were killed in concentration camps and death camps. One Jewish survivor was Alfred Oppenheimer, a member of the Consistoire (Jewish Council). Together with his family he was deported to concentration camp, where his wife was killed and then to Auschwitz where his son Rene was gassed. Alfred Oppenheimer survived the death camp and was one of the witnesses at the trial of Adolf Eichmann. He returned to live in Luxembourg until his death aged over 90, and was known for his involvement in public education about the Nazi regime and the Holocaust. The Prix Rene Oppenheimer was created in memory of his son.

2,848 Luxembourgers eventually died fighting in the German army. U.S. forces again liberated Luxembourg in September 1944, although they were briefly forced to withdraw during the Battle of the Bulge. The Germans were finally expelled in January 1945. Altogether, of a pre-war population of 293,000, 5,259 Luxembourgers lost their lives during the hostilities.

German occupation of Luxembourg in World War II

Heim ins Reich

The Resistance

Collaboration

The Fate of Luxembourg's Jews

See also