The Second World War

Operation Thunderclap - 10 May 1940

When the first German units crossed the Moselle, Sûre and Our rivers on the morning of 10 May, they encountered a country that was prepared for invasion albeit powerless in the face of advancing the war machine. Following a few skirmishes, Luxembourg's armed forces had no choice but to surrender their weapons. The Grand Duchy's neutrality had been breached for a second time, in the space of less than 25 years.

Learning from the past, the Grand Duchess Charlotte and the Luxembourgish government, notified that very night of the invasion, escaped the country. Their first port of call was Portugal, then Canada. Finally, the Grand Ducal family and the government settled in London to foster Luxembourg's resistance. This proved to be a fortunate move, as their commitment to the Allies' cause ensured that Luxembourg was awarded full international recognition immediately after the war.

Luxembourg reorganised by the occupying forces

German occupation meant the end of Luxembourg's independence. Many Luxembourgers adopted a wait-and-see attitude and the Luxembourgish economy began to produce for the Reich. In the absence of the government, an administrative committee was created, collaborating with German occupying forces in order to preserve the country's sovereignty.

However, the German plans were to annex Luxembourg to the Reich. In July-August 1940, Luxembourg was placed under direct German administration. Gustav Simon, the Gauleiter of Gau Koblenz-Trier, was appointed head of the civil administration. With the support of Luxembourgish collaborators (known as Gielemännercher - the 'yellow men' - because of their brown-yellow uniform), the entire public sphere in Luxembourg was reorganised under German rule.

From the outset, these initiatives were aimed at a de facto annexation of Luxembourg to the Reich and the Germanisation of its population. All the structures of the Luxembourg state were abolished. The use of French was forbidden and an intense propaganda campaign attempted to draw the local population over to the Nazi regime.

Roused by the allies' first victories, the Germanisation of society and deteriorating living conditions, an ever-increasing portion of the population began to oppose the German occupation.

Annexation into the Reich

To legitimise Luxembourg's annexation into the Reich, the occupying forces organised a population census in 1941, asking questions about the national, ethnic (Volkszugehörigkeit) and linguistic affiliation of each resident. On the last two points in particular, the German administration tried to force the local population to declare themselves ‘German’. However, despite the propaganda, censorship and intimidation, a significant number of people answered ‘Luxembourgeois’ or left the fields blank. The German civil administration soon realised that the census was not working in its favour and cancelled the collection of forms. To this day, the census day on 10 October 1941 is celebrated as National Commemoration Day.

On 30 August 1942, Germany established the forced annexation of Luxembourg into Germany. A large number of Luxembourgers immediately suspected the consequences: young Luxembourgers were going to be treated as Germans, which meant that they would be required to carry out their military service.

This measure caused strikes all over the country. The German response was severe. German authorities declared martial law and summarily executed 21 strikers by the Standgerichte, the Martial Courts. The movement was crushed.

Price to pay

Overall, around 10,000 Luxembourgers were forcibly conscripted into the German armed forces. Over a third of them refused to wear the German uniform, driving them underground, often with disastrous consequences for their families. The occupying forces responded to any form of opposition with terror: deportations to the east, imprisonment in concentration camps (Hinzert camp in particular) and executions.

It was the Jewish community that suffered the most at the hands of the Nazi regime. Of the 4,000 Jewish people living in Luxembourg before the war (approximately one fourth of which were Luxembourgers, the remaining being refugees from other European countries), over 90% never saw the country again. One-third were killed.

Groups of Luxembourgers who sometimes came from the scouts or disbanded political parties gradually organised themselves to fight against the occupation. In its initial stage, this 'Resistance' organised the smuggling of fugitives and allied aviators who escaped prison to French and Belgian resistance groups, as well as the dissimulation of Luxembourgish members of the resistance.

At the end of the war, the different resistance movements joined forces as the Unio’n.

Liberation at last...

On 10 September 1944, Luxembourg was liberated by the American army. Nevertheless, the Germans succeeded in stabilising the front along the Moselle and launched a counter-attack in December 1944. The Battle of the Bulge wreaked havoc in the north and east of the country.

The liberation of Vianden on 22 February, the return from exile of Grand Duchess Charlotte on 14 April and finally the unconditional surrender of Germany on 8 May 1945 marked the end of the war.

The final toll was high: as a result of the armed conflict and the Nazi terror, Luxembourg suffered 5,700 deaths, accounting for approximately 2% of the total population. From among the 1,300 Jews that had been deported, only 69 survived the ghettos and camps.

The immediate post-war period was characterised by reconstruction. Thanks to the American aid received as part of the Marshall Plan, significant progress was achieved in terms of modernisation and infrastructure. It was also a time to settle scores against the collaborators, via legal proceedings and sometimes via reprisals.