Malgré-nous
thumb|Monument to the Malgré-nous in Obernai, [[Bas-Rhin]] Malgré-nous (, 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. They are sometimes referred to as forced enlistees ().
Article
5 sectionsContents
- History
- Contexte historique
- ''Malgré-elles''
- See also
- References
thumb|Monument to the Malgré-nous in Obernai, [[Bas-Rhin]] Malgré-nous (, 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. They are sometimes referred to as forced enlistees ().
== 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". Most of those were sent to the Eastern Front. A smaller number served in the Waffen-SS.