Remembrance Tourism in Moselle 1
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REMEMBRANCE TOURISM IN MOSELLE 1 UPROOTING FROM MOSELLE DISCOVER MOSELLE’S LAND AND HISTORY, OR REDISCOVER IT WITH FRESH EYES EDITORIAL Technical expertise, war art, architecture, history and heritage—Moselle’s memorial sites convey all of these things, to varying degrees, depending on the place. The region has known moments of glory and moments of pain, and many sites bear witness to this. It is well worth exploring them and learning about them. From the brilliance of Vauban to the Father of Europe, Robert Schuman, and Maginot, many great names have left their mark on Moselle. Moselle invites you to discover the area and its history or rediscover it with fresh eyes, in partnership with the many hosts at these memorial sites, who are often volunteers, but always genuinely passionate. 2020 will be a particularly special year for the region as it commemorates one of the most significant and little‑known periods of the Second World War, the uprooting of Moselle’s inhabitants. Between 1939 and 1940, more than 400,000 Mosellans were forced to abandon their homeland for other regions of France, either to steer clear from the fighting, or they were expelled by the Nazis. However, this painful, forced exile forged an unfailing bond with the regions that welcomed them in, to which we pay tribute throughout this year. I would like everyone to be able to spread the word about this period of our history through their enriching visits. Patrick WEITEN President of Moselle Attractivité President of the Regional Council of Moselle Former MP P6‑11 UPROOTING FROM MOSELLE 1 P12‑23 MUSEUMS, SITES AND RESOURCE CENTRES 2 P24‑37 MAGINOT LINE OUVRAGES1 3 P38‑41 LES FESTEN 4 P42‑49 BURIAL GROUNDS, MEMORIALS AND WAR CEMETERIES 5 P50‑53 INTERNMENT CAMPS 6 P54‑57 ROBERT SCHUMAN 7 1 An ouvrage is a French term used to describe a type of large fortification built for defence on the Maginot Line. A gros ouvrage is a large fortification with a significant artillery component, while a petit ouvrage is smaller, with lighter arms. 4 Hackenberg Moselle was particularly marked by the three modern era Franco-German wars. The war of 1870-1871, between France and the German states led by Prussia, took place in Moselle and lasted three months (August to October 1870). The war then moved to the Paris region, to the north and the edge of the Loire. A defeated France relinquished Alsace and the territory referred to as Lothringen (Lorraine) by the victors, which is the current region of Moselle to the new German empire (Treaty of Frankfurt, 10 May 1871). For almost half a century, it was under German administration. During this time, federal legislation was fully integrated into the German economy. The first battles of the 1st World War, known as the Battle of the Frontiers (August 1914), took place in the annexed Lorraine and in French Lorraine. They left remnants in Moselle which are still visible today. Numerous memorials and burial grounds bear testimony to the bloody Morhange-Sarrebourg battles. The front was set at the end of 1914 along a line of trenches and strongholds established from Pont-à-Mousson to the Vosges. After the German defeat in 1918, Alsace and Moselle became French territory again (Treaty of Versailles, 28 June 1919). From 1930, to guard against a new invasion from the east, the French government decided to build an unbroken fortified line, the Maginot Line, named after the man behind the idea, Minister André Maginot. The main ouvrages were built on Mosellan territory, from the east of Thionville to the north of Alsace. TOURISME DE MÉMOIRE On 1st September 1939, the declaration of war triggered a gradual mass evacuation of 300,000 of Moselle’s inhabitants to areas near to the Maginot Line, under the protection of which the French army awaited the enemy, known as the “phoney war”. 5 Caught off-guard by the German army, the line of defence trapped thousands of French soldiers in heavy fighting throughout the month of June 1940. Moselle was annexed by the Reich even before the peace treaty had been signed. Its inhabitants were subject to a brutal policy of Germanisation and Nazification, which lead to the forced recruitment of 30,000 Mosellans into the Wehrmacht from August 1942. Moreover, approximately 250 camps in Moselle brought together more than 70,000 Soviet prisoners and both male and female forced labourers from eastern European countries. The territory was liberated by US army intervention after fierce fighting, between September 1944 and March 1945. This booklet contains descriptions of the many sites bearing witness to war throughout the whole of the Moselle region, including fortified towns and places even older than the three aforementioned wars, and which we owe to the military engineer, Vauban. The guide concludes by paying tribute to one of the Founding Fathers of the European Union, Robert Schuman, MP and minister for Moselle, who is buried near his house in Scy-Chazelles. He is particularly known for delivering a rousing speech on 9 May 1950 and working tirelessly to achieve peace and Franco-German reconciliation. Cimetière américain de Saint‑Avold REMEMBRANCE TOURISM UPROOTING FROM MOSELLE 1 8 The evacuated inhabitants of Moselle In September 1939, French mobilisation triggered a mass forced evacuation operation of the civilian communities living in the area in front of the Maginot Line. In Moselle, from the Pays de Bitche to the Thionille-est district, people fled almost immediately all at the same time. On 10 May 1940, a German offensive caused a second wave of evacuations, behind the Maginot Line this time, primarily from Thionville and Boulay districts. 300,000 Mosellans from 300 communes then left their homes to get to the fallback regions which had been chosen by the government a few months previously. These included the departments of Charente and Vienne, and extended to include Charente-Inférieure when it became apparent that Charente would soon become saturated. Miners left for the industrial and mining regions in the North and the Centre, which lacked labour force due to conscription. However, the second wave of evacuations took place under dramatic circumstances. As a result, in May 1940 a large number of refugees from Moselle did not have any means of reaching the west of France, and only got as far as Burgundy and the north of Auvergne. Those with the financial means and who had a fallback plan for their family, regardless of the group evacuation measures, also left Meuse, Meurthe-et-Moselle, or Moselle itself. After a gruelling trip for most (30 to 70 km on foot, much further for those who were unlucky, followed by 2 or 3 days by train, sometimes longer, often in freight wagons), the refugees from Moselle landed in Angoulême, Lens, Poitiers, Saint-Etienne or in small railway towns. Here they were welcomed by committees including officials and members of the Red Cross, who took them under their wing, helped them settle in and directed them to what would become their permanent accommodation. The mayors were responsible for finding a roof REMEMBRANCE TOURISM for each and every one of them, even if it was temporary shared accommodation, and also to provide provisions to the weary travellers, who had been uprooted from their homes. The old or very young (men who were in their prime were on the front line), of a particular age were ill at ease when spoken to in French or worse, in regional dialect, as they could not understand the language and could only read German, the language of the enemy. How do you explain that to the French in the west? 9 The government and its prefects did all they could to help. A minister was responsible for the refugees, assisted by the Under-secretary of State in spring 1940 (Robert Schuman, an active and respected MP for Moselle). Subsidies were given to those who weren’t working, schools in Lorraine were opened for refugee children. People were encouraged to work in farms, vineyards (around Cognac), and in arms manufacturing in Châtellerault. Women who were not busy looking after children knitted for national defence. Miners ensured that manufacturing continued in the Centre-Midi and Nord-Pas-de-Calais mining basins. Despite misunderstandings (the refugees from Lorraine were referred to as “Huns” by some of the country people in the west) and despite the occasional grievance caused by the professional decommissioning, everything was generally fine. Memories of those months spent far away were not so bad. So much so that some of the refugees from Moselle chose not to return home when invited to do so from July 1940, when the new rulers of Europe annexed them to the Reich at the beginning of August 1940. This would be the beginning of four years of annexation. Some families did not return, others would never see each other again as they settled down where they were evacuated, and some did not return. Moselle lost 100,000 inhabitants waiting for the expulsion of French speakers and anti-Nazis or anti-Germans, which began in the summer of 1940. Departments receiving Moselle inhabitants in 1939‑1940 Transit departments in 1939-1940 (Charente, Vienne, Charente- Inférieure) Mining and industrial departments that received miners and industrial workers in 1939 (Pas‑de‑Calais, Nord, Loire, Saône‑et‑Loire, Haute-Loire) Main departments providing makeshift accommodation in 1940 (Puy- de-Dôme, Allier, Côte-d’Or) In bold, the names of the departments that received the most workers. The demarcation line between the occupied zone and the non-occupied zone after the armistice was signed on 22 June 1940 is shown for information purposes.