Malgré-nous

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Monument to the Malgré-nous in Obernai, Bas-Rhin

Malgré-nous (lit. 'we despite ourselves', or more figuratively 'we who are forced against our will') is a term that refers to men from Alsace–Lorraine who were conscripted into the German military after the region's annexation from France during World War II. The female term Malgré-elles is sometimes used to refer to the Alsace-Moselle women also drafted against their will into the general German war effort.[1]

History

Based on orders from Gauleiter Robert Heinrich Wagner, the regional military governor of Alsace, of 25 August 1942, some 100,000 Alsatians and 30,000 Mosellans were drafted by force into the German armed forces. Heller and Simpson (2013) say:

Forced enrollment was organized in Alsace largely because of the disappointing number of Alsatians volunteering for the SS (at most 2,000). The fear from the high loss rates of the German Wehrmacht especially in Russia, were the most important point to stay away from any form of volunteering in German military units. Additionally, many men who refused conscription saw their "entire family...deported after they refused to serve".[2]

Most of those were sent to the Eastern Front. A smaller number served in the Waffen-SS.

Some Malgré-nous deserted the Wehrmacht to join the

Free French Forces
.

Thirteen Malgré-nous were involved in the

French National Assembly
on 19 February 1953.

Of the estimated 130,000 Malgré-nous, some 32,000 were killed in action and 10,500 are still missing in action (and presumed dead). Between 5,000 and 10,000

prisoners-of-war died in captivity, most of them at the Soviet camp at Tambov
. The last POWs were released in 1955. Forty thousand of the Malgré-nous were invalids after the war.

See also

Notes

  1. ^ ↑ Thomas Calinon, « Les Malgré-elles indemnisées [archive] », sur LibéStrasbourg, 17 July 2008.
  2. ISBN 978-0-19-967114-4
    .
  3. ISBN 978-1-85109-907-8
    .
  4. ^ Williams, Michael. "Oradour-sur-Glane 10th June 1944". Retrieved 21 March 2008.

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