the Alsace-Moselle memorial pays tribute to the In spite of us

Elisabeth lays down, with her fingertips, her little purple lantern at the edge of the winding path leading to the Alsace-Moselle memorial, in Schirmeck, in the Bas-Rhin. Hundreds of paper lanterns Similar items have been arranged, sometimes embellished with a little word or even a poem, sometimes covered with a black and white photo. Each pays tribute to a Despite-us, these Alsatians-Mosellens forcibly incorporated into the German army 80 years ago, in August 1942. The memorial organized, on Saturday August 27, a big ceremony to celebrate their memory.

“Dad, you have been through such painful things. But above all, when you came back, you wanted to build your family and professional life”begins Elisabeth, in a form of prayer facing this lantern placed for her father, forcibly incorporated at the end of the Second World War, before quickly deserting from Luxemburg. He died in the early 2000s. “There will soon be no more witnesses. I want these Despite-us, like my dad, to be better known, better explained. This story must be told to young people, so that there is no more ‘amalgams.’

A way to “fix” the tribute

It is precisely as a family that Hervé and Aline came, with their children Marie and Camille. They carry two lanterns for the mother’s great-uncle, as well as her grandmother’s fiancé, both died during their forcible incorporation. “We wanted to take our children so that they do not forget the mistakes of the past”explains Aline. “I have the impression that it falls into oblivion”laments his companion. “The new generations talk about it less. With digital, there is no more transmission.”

A ceremony which also allows the descendants of those incorporated by force to “fix” their homage, for Despite-us sometimes still unburiednor precise place of death. “This lantern will be my anchor”, testifies Lucie, who came to remember her grandfather. The Alsatian lives in Schirmeck and is used to visiting the memorial. “It’s hard not to have a place to meditate. From now on, when I pass here, I will have a place to pay this tribute to my grandfather”she explains in a sob.