On August 2, 2022, we will commemorate the 80th anniversary of the forced incorporation of 134,000 Alsatians and Lorrainers into the German army during the Second World War, whether in the Heer (the land army), in the Luftwaffe (the air force), in the Kriegsmarine (the navy), or even in the Waffen-SS.
Lucien Pfaffenhoff recounts his arrest by the Gestapo at the station. The women incorporated into the Nazi organizations (RAD, KHD, etc.) were designated as despite themselves.
Marie-Rose Hils, on the brutal separation from her family, which she had never left. The reputation of the Alsatians suffered a great deal from this, when they were forced, under the threat of imprisonment or execution by their families, to put on the uniform of the Third Reich. How do you explain that to people, when the last witnesses are disappearing one after the other?
Pierre Ackermann, on his silence after the war. The youngest Zwàngsingezeuini are now 94 years old, so you have to write so that the memory does not fade. Here is precisely the little new one from the Graine d’Histoire collection at La Nuée Bleue, released last week in bookstores: the return of the soldier Despite Him. It tells the story of Henri, a young Alsatian forcibly conscripted into Hitler’s army, who returned to his native village of Drulingen on July 14, 1945. He was lucky: the last despite us released from the USSR was Jean-Jacques Remetter, a basket maker, who finally returned home in 1955.
Tharcisse Kuhn, on his late incorporation, in 1944. Even for the character of Henri, the return to normal life proves difficult. An initiatory novel which speaks of the drama of the Despite-We to the younger generations and which is written with four hands by Daniel Fischer and Sylvie de Mathuisieulx, with illustrations by Benjamin Strickler. You will find it for 10€ at your favorite bookstore.
Father Raymond Heinimann of Buschwiller on forgiveness in relation to this dark period, one after he went through with faith. All these testimonies, you will find them during a special week on FBE.fr at the beginning of August, but already in a complete file on the incorporation of force, already available, I will put you the link in the article.
Find the complete file with all the testimonials of Despite-We that we developed in 2017.