Volksdeutsche Bewegung

German National Movement

Volksdeutsche Bewegung
German National Movement Volksdeutsche Bewegung
	Far-right
Slogan	Heim ins Reich
	Politics of Luxembourg; Political parties; Elections;

Volksdeutsche Bewegung (German; literally "Ethnic German Movement") ("Volksdeutsche" was a term used to describe ethnic Germans living outside the borders of Germany, and Germans who lived inside of the Germany were called "Reichsdeutsche") was a Nazi movement in Luxembourg that flourished under the German-occupied Luxembourg during World War II.

Formed by

National Socialist German Workers Party

after incorporation. The movement disappeared after the war, and Kratzenberg was executed in 1946.

Foundation

The predecessors of the Volksdeutsche Bewegung, the "Luxemburger Gesellschaft für Deutsche Literatur und Kunst“ (GEDELIT; Luxembourgish Society for German Literature and Art), was led from 1935 by Damian Kratzenberg. Kratzenberg, a Luxembourgish National Socialist, advocated for the integration of the Grand Duchy into the German Empire, and advanced the "Deutschtum" (German-ness) of the Luxembourgers as a historical and linguistic justification for this. The "GEDELIT" engaged in propaganda in schools and assembled Nazi-sympathising groups of students in GEDELIT premises.

After the German Wehrmacht occupied the neutral Grand Duchy on 10 May 1940, 7 days later the "Volksdeutsche Bewegung" was founded in the city of Luxembourg. In his function as the president of the Volksdeutsche Bewegung, Kratzenberg now reported to the head of the civilian administration, the Gauleiter Gustav Simon.

Referendum of 10 October 1941

Census questionnaire on civil status as of the 10th October 1941

In 1941 the civil administrator ordered a referendum, disguised as a census, in which the Luxembourgers were supposed to admit their German ethnicity and thus give their blessing to a "voluntary" joining of the Third Reich.

Luxembourgish Resistance learned of the plan and spread the word that the Luxembourgers should answer dräimol Lëtzebuergesch ("three times Luxembourgish"). A test run of the civil administration failed for this reason, and the referendum was cancelled.^[3]

Through the failure of the referendum, the occupiers recognised that they could not overcome the resistance of the population. The German policy towards the Luxembourgers changed, and became much more brutal. The Volksdeutsche Bewegung lost significance, and played little role until the end of the war.

After Liberation

The head of the Volksdeutsche Bewegung, Damian Kratzenberg, managed to flee towards Weißenburg a few days before the liberation on 1 September. A letter to his daughter after the end of the war, however, gave his location away. He was brought to Luxembourg and put on trial. On 1 August Kratzenberg was sentenced to death and on 11 October 1946 was shot at the shooting range of the barracks of the Holy Ghost Plateau in Luxembourg City.^[4]

References

^ Marson, Pierre. "Damian Kratzenberg". Dictionnaire des auteurs luxembourgeois. Centre national de littérature.
^ "An Hour of Glory: The Strike at the Luxembourg Post Office, 1 September 1942". Archived from the original on 7 July 2007. Retrieved 25 April 2007.
^
ISBN 9027218560
– via Google Books.

^ Marson, Pierre. "Damian Kratzenberg". Dictionnaire des auteurs luxembourgeois. Centre national de littérature.

[:1-1] Marson, Pierre. "Damian Kratzenberg". Dictionnaire des auteurs luxembourgeois. Centre national de littérature.

[2] "An Hour of Glory: The Strike at the Luxembourg Post Office, 1 September 1942". Archived from the original on 7 July 2007. Retrieved 25 April 2007.

[Standardizations-3] 
ISBN 9027218560
– via Google Books.

[:0-4] Marson, Pierre. "Damian Kratzenberg". Dictionnaire des auteurs luxembourgeois. Centre national de littérature.

[3]

[4]