Diving at the time of the Second World War in Luxembourg
This summer, every Saturday, we show you a walk, on foot or by bike, across the country. This week, the editors’ choice fell on a city trip to the city of Luxembourg.
Summer walk
This summer, every Saturday, we show you a walk, on foot or by bike, across the country. This week, the editors’ choice fell on a city trip to the city of Luxembourg.
Whether it is the Place d’Armes, the Gëlle Fra or the Grand Ducal Palace, their presence is already so much a part of the landscape in the heart of the capital of Luxembourg that it is sometimes difficult to imagine the much more painful side that these monuments and places can send back to those who lived through the Second World War.
This challenge and this work of memory, Jean-Marc Weckbecker accomplishes it with a lot of passion and pedagogy, as the official guide of the city for this dedicated circuit. Far from the blackboards and classroom desks, this little marathon with him will be an opportunity to learn many facts and anecdotes from this retired history teacher and former editor of the Luxembourg must.
15 stages and a multitude of memories
The journey back in time will begin in front of the Tourist Office located not far from the town hall (which is stage point 14), the rallying point for all the groups having used a personal guide to leave. discovering the secrets of the capital. In total, the course will take two hours through the streets that you will walk at a slow pace, for a distance of about 4km.
Far from being strictly academic, Jean-Marc Weckbecker will ask you from the outset what you know about the history of the country, at the time of the dark era of the Nazi occupation, and will adapt to your level of knowledge. to make your ride as pleasant as possible.
On the program, stops in front of several notorious emblems of the country which suffered from the passage of the German army, starting with the Place d’armes (stage 1) and the palace (stage 2), which served as a concert hall, drinking establishment and private club for soldiers and high-ranking officers. The Chamber of Deputies (stage 3) is also part of the route, since it was dissolved in October 1940 so that the premises could be occupied by the Wehrmacht Propaganda Office.
For the record, the entire government of the time, with the unfortunate exception of one of its members, managed to flee the country until the liberation, just like the Grand Duchess Charlotte whose statue stands dress in the center of the Place de Clairefontaine (step 4). For the unlucky minister and the rest of the inhabitants in the grip of the Nazis, the Cathedral of Our Lady of Luxembourg (stage 5) was also a great comfort for many Luxembourgers during this troubled period.
The Virgin was prized there but also considered, along with the Grand Duchess Charlotte, as the “Consolator of the Afflicted” and a protective maternal figure of Luxembourg. Not far away on the Place de la Constitution, the Gëlle Fra (stage 6), initially designated after the First World War, has for its part become the ultimate symbol of the freedom and resistance of the Luxembourg people after the liberation. It was destroyed by the Germans, then rebuilt, now paying tribute to the victims and soldiers of the two great wars.
Project: City of Luxembourg
The rest of this short journey will be in meditation in front of the monument to the memory of the victims of the Shoah included in 2018 (stage 7). The first seven points of stages crossed, the others will be much more spaced out on the whole of the way which it remains to you to achieve and you will perhaps be surprised to learn that although invaded and under German control, the people Luxembourg is far from having remained totally passive and petrified.
Witness the sad 80th anniversary of the general strike of August 31, 1942, commemorated this week. This last occurred in reaction to the announcement made the day before by the gauleiter (head of the district in Hitler’s Germany) Gustav Simon. He had in fact decreed the introduction of compulsory military service in the Wehrmacht for Luxembourg youth.
Thus, men born between 1920 and 1924 become the object of an immediate convocation, followed by the 1925 to 1927 age groups. Public order undermined, the Gauleiter had activated an exceptional tribunal. A total of 21 death sentences were handed down and 45 strikers were handed over to the Gestapo and deported to concentration camps. Rue de la Grève bears his name in their memory (stage 10).
Commemoration of the 80th anniversary of the strike and laying of flowers at the Monument National de la Grève in Wiltz.
Photo: Caroline Martin
Moreover, the country’s motto, “Mir wëlle bleiwe wat mir sinn” (“We want to remain what we are”) will also resonate very strongly with you when you hear the story of the rue du Plébiscite running along the south side of the Square of the Martyrs. A street which for its part refers to the census of the Luxembourg population organized by the occupier on October 10, 1941 in order to establish the racial composition of the latter. All that we will tell you here is that the population, galvanized by the Luxembourg Resistance, was not lacking in audacity!
Photo: Anouk Antoine
Photo: Anouk Antoine
Photo: Anouk Antoine
Photo: Anouk Antoine
Photo: Anouk Antoine
Photo: Anouk Antoine
Photo: Anouk Antoine
To discover the underside of this anecdote which is not insignificant and the rest of the memories transmitted to perpetuate the memory and the experience of the locals during the Second World War, go to the official website of the Tourist Office of the City of Luxembourg for more information.
It is obviously possible to complete the route independently, but for an accompaniment with a dedicated guide, you will need to count 120 euros, for a group of 20 people maximum.
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