German occupation of Luxembourg during World War II

The German occupation of Luxembourg in World War II began in May 1940 after the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg was invaded by Nazi Germany. Although Luxembourg was officially neutral, it was situated at a strategic point at the end of the French Maginot Line. On 10 May 1940, the German Wehrmacht invaded Luxembourg, Belgium and the Netherlands. Luxembourg was initially placed under a military administration, but later became a civilly administrated territory and finally was annexed directly into Germany. The Germans believed Luxembourg to be a Germanic state, and attempted to suppress what they perceived as alien French language and cultural influences. Although some Luxembourgers joined the resistance or collaborated with the Germans, both constituted a minority of the population. As German nationals, from 1942, many Luxembourgers were conscripted into the German military. Nearly 3,500 Luxembourgish Jews were murdered during the Holocaust. The liberation of the country by the Allies began in September 1944, but due to the Ardennes Offensive it was not completed until early 1945.

Eve of the invasion

The outbreak of World War II on 1 September 1939 put Luxembourg's government in a delicate situation. On the one hand, the population's sympathy lay with Belgium and France; on the other hand, due to the country's policy of neutrality since 1867's Treaty of London, the government adopted a careful non-belligerent stance towards its neighbours. As of 1 September, Radio Luxembourg stopped broadcasting. In spring 1940, fortifications were erected along the borders with Germany and France. The so-called Schuster Line, named after its constructor, consisted of massive concrete roadblocks with steel doors. The official aim of these road blocks was to slow down the progress of any invading army and give time for the guarantors of Luxembourg's neutrality to take counteractions against the invaders. However, compared to the massive power of the German forces, it had only symbolic character and helped to calm down the population. Except for its small Corps des Gendarmes et Volontaires, Luxembourg did not possess an army, due to the treaty's restrictions.

After several false alarms in the spring of 1940, the probability of a military conflict between Germany and France grew. Germany stopped the export of coke for the Luxembourgish steel industry.

Invasion

The steel doors of the Schuster Line were ordered closed on 10 May 1940 at 03:15, following movements of German troops on the east side of the border rivers Our, Sauer and Mosel. In the meantime, German special forces dressed as civilians and supported by Germans living in Luxembourg - the so-called Stoßtrupp Lützelburg - tried to sabotage radio broadcasting and the barricades along the German-Luxembourgish border but their attempt failed. The Royal Family was evacuated from its residence in Colmar-Berg to the Grand Ducal palace in Luxembourg City.

The German invasion, made up of the 1st, 2nd, and 10th Panzer Divisions began at 04:35. They encountered no significant resistance save for some bridges destroyed and some land mines, since the majority of the Luxembourgish Volunteer Corps stayed in their barracks. Luxembourgish police resisted the German troops, however, to little avail; the capital city being occupied before noon. Total Luxembourgish casualties amounted to 75 police and soldiers captured, six police wounded, and one soldier wounded. At 08:00, elements of the of General Robert Petiet, supported by the 1st Spahi Brigade of Colonel Jouffault and the 2nd company of the 5th Armoured Battalion, crossed the southern border to conduct a probe of German forces; these units later retreated behind the Maginot Line. By the evening of 10 May 1940, most of the country, with the exception of the south, was occupied by German forces. More than 90,000 civilians evacuated from the canton of Esch-sur-Alzette as a consequence of the advance. 47,000 fled to France, 45,000 fled into the central and northern part of Luxembourg.

Grand Duchess Charlotte and the government of prime minister Pierre Dupong fled to France, Portugal and the United Kingdom, before finally settling in Canada for the duration of the war. Charlotte, exiled in London, became an important symbol of national unity. Her eldest son and heir, Jean, volunteered for the British Army in 1942. The only official representative left behind was , head of a governmental commission, as well as the 41 members of the Chamber of Deputies.

Governance

Military administration

thumb|[[Heinrich Himmler visiting Luxembourg in July 1940]]

Early on 10 May 1940, the German diplomat Von Radowitz handed the general secretary of the Luxembourgish government a memorandum from the German government, stating that Germany had no intention of changing the territorial integrity or political independence of the Grand Duchy. The following day, a military administration for Luxembourg was set up. Luxembourgish interests were represented by a governmental commission under Albert Wehrer, which consisted of senior civil servants and had been legitimated by the Chamber of Deputies. There was a good relationship between this commission and the military authorities, as Colonel Schumacher showed a broad-minded attitude towards the country's problems and a willingness to solve these in consultation with the government commission.

On 13 July 1940, the Volksdeutsche Bewegung (VdB) was founded in Luxembourg City under the leadership of Damian Kratzenberg, a German teacher at the Athénée de Luxembourg. Henri became Heinrich, Dupont became Brückner.

18 February 1941: Wearing a beret (a traditional cap from the Northern Basque Country) was forbidden.

Catholic Church

The Catholic Church in Luxembourg was relatively silent during the war, and took no public stance regarding the fate of the Jews or the Nazi regime. On the one hand, the Bishop, Joseph Laurent Philippe, was bedridden due to illness, and was therefore in no state to provide active opposition. On the other hand, the Bishop did not want to further antagonise the occupiers and endanger the already precarious religious life of the Church, which was heavily restricted during wartime. Bishop Philippe did, however, refuse to meet with the Nazi leadership, and made preparations in case his post should fall vacant.

The Church saw its very existence threatened as it was pushed out of public life by the anti-religious policies of the Nazis: public religious events such as the Octave celebration or the dancing procession were banned, Christian organisations were dissolved, religious education in schools was abolished, and a ban on the religious orders was put in place.

The Bishop's primary concern was to maintain pastoral care. In order to preserve this, he was prepared to give way on individual points. Thus, he made no official protest against the measures of the Zivilverwaltung, and tried to keep members of the clergy from "ill-considered" actions.

In the 1920s, Germany once again became Luxembourg's second-biggest economic partner, far ahead of France or Britain. As Germany was a large buyer of its heavy industry products, and provided 90% of Luxembourg's coal needs, the smaller country was dependent on Germany and susceptible to its pressures or threats.

Several well-known Catholic and Communist households, and many parishes and priories, also kept a number of Jewish Luxembourgish civilians and foreign Jews hidden and safe.

Passive resistance

thumb|Luxembourgers serving in the German army as [[Luftwaffenhelfer]]

Non-violent passive resistance was widespread in Luxembourg during the period. From August 1940, the Spéngelskrich (the "War of Pins") took place as Luxembourgers wore patriotic pin-badges (depicting the national colours or the Grand duchess), precipitating attacks from the VdB.

In October 1941, the German occupiers took a survey of Luxembourgish civilians who were asked to state their nationality, their mother tongue and their racial group, but contrary to German expectations, 95% answered "Luxembourgish" to each question. The refusal to declare themselves as German citizens led to mass arrests.

Conscription was particularly unpopular. On 31 August 1942, shortly after the announcement that conscription would be extended to all men born between 1920 and 1927, a strike began in the northern town of Wiltz. The strike was quickly repressed and its leaders arrested. 20 were summarily tried before a special tribunal (in German, a "Standgericht") and executed by firing squad at nearby Hinzert concentration camp.

Collaboration

Collaboration with the Nazi occupation is an aspect less often talked about in Luxembourg. Studies have shown that collaboration was a phenomenon in all layers of society. There was, however, an over-representation of civil servants among the collaborators. On average, the collaborators were younger than the general population.

Audiences eagerly consumed comedies, love films, high-spectacle productions and musical films. Aside from numerous reactions of disapproval in cinemas when films of explicit propaganda or the news were shown, the Luxembourg public's hostility towards Nazi German and the occupation manifested itself in other domains of social, cultural and political life (boycotting official events, the census of 10 October 1941, strike of 31 August 1942). But unlike most events organised by the occupiers (plays, concerts, public lectures), cinema was not seen as explicitly Nazi, despite most of the films being from Germany, and watching German entertainment films was not seen as expressing support for the occupiers. the ones in Ettelbruck and Mondorf-les-Bains were devastated. The Nazis concentrated most of the remaining 800 Jews in the old monastery of Cinqfontaines (Fünfbrunnen). From here, they were deported on 7 trains from 16 October 1941 to 17 June 1943 to the ghetto of Litzmannstadt and the concentration camps of Lublin and Theresienstadt, and from 1943 directly to the extermination camp of Auschwitz.

On 17 June 1943, Gustav Simon announced Luxembourg to be Judenfrei. From the 683 deported, only 43 survived.

Liberation

thumb|Civilians in Wiltz flying the [[flag of Luxembourg during the town's liberation by U.S. forces]]

Luxembourg was liberated by Allied forces in September 1944, specifically U.S. Army Combat Command A (CCA), 5th Armored Division. The first U.S. forces entered Luxembourgish territory near Petange on 9 September, and liberated the capital city on 10 September 1944. The Germans retreated without fighting. By 12 September 90% of the Grand Duchy had been liberated. These numbers put into perspective how high the losses of Luxembourg actually were during World War II. (Most of the damages occurred during the Battle of the Bulge.)

Legacy

The government-in-exile in 1941 declared all measures by the German occupiers to be null and void, which it re-affirmed in 1944. However, it also stated that "[n]ot all is bad in the German system, we would do well to conserve some of the institutions that they have introduced."

The Centre for Documentation and Research on the Resistance and the Centre for Documentation and Research on forced Conscription were founded in 2002 and 2005, respectively, to conduct research on the period of German occupation. They are funded by the government.

The German occupation period features in the following drama films: Déi zwéi vum Bierg (1985), Der neunte Tag (2004), Réfractaire (2009), and Emil (2010); it is also the subject of the 2004 documentary Heim ins Reich.

Several street names in the capital city are named after World War II events in Luxembourg, or pay tribute to Allied military or political leaders in the war, especially those that had a hand in the liberation of Luxembourg:

Allée des Résistants et des Déportés
Avenue Charles-de-Gaulle
Avenue du Dix-Septembre
Boulevard d'Avranches
Boulevard Franklin-D.-Roosevelt
Boulevard Général-George-S.-Patton
Rue de la Grève
Place des Martyrs
Rue du Plébiscite
Rue General-Major-Lunsford-E.-Oliver
Rue George-C.-Marshall

Footnotes

External links

ms:Pendudukan Jerman ke atas Luxembourg semasa Perang Dunia II