A “Wall of Names”: in Schirmeck (Bas-Rhin), elected officials on Tuesday laid the first stone of a monument dedicated to the Alsatians and Mosellans who died and disappeared during the Second World War, and in particular those forcibly incorporated.
The objective of this memorial monument is to pay tribute to the dead of Alsace and Moselle, who died “as soldiers in French uniform, forcibly incorporated into the Wehrmacht and Nazi paramilitary formations”, specifies the Grand Est Region, bearer of the project, in a press release.
“Resistance fighters, victims of the Shoah and Nazi persecution, and civilian victims” will also be recognized. In total, 38,000 names will be registered.
Receive our daily edition for free by email so you don’t miss the best news. Free registration!
“Their tragic journeys reflect the turbulent history of the region, marked by successive annexations and global conflicts,” writes the Region.
This “is not only a testimony to the past, it is also a reminder of the values that we must continue to defend today”, for Franck Leroy, president of the Region, quoted in the press release.
The families of the missing, researchers and memorial associations were involved in this project.
The Wall of Names will be erected below the Alsace-Moselle Memorial in Schirmeck.
Its cost is 3.7 million euros, including 1.7 million financed by the Region. The European Union (EU) contributed 1.6 million euros and the French Ministry of the Armed Forces contributed 350,000 euros.
Alsace and Moselle were annexed by the German Empire from 1871 to 1918, then by Nazi Germany from 1940 to 1945.
You are one of our loyal readers
We are glad you read X articles from Times of Israël last month.
This is why we created the Times of Israeleleven years ago (nine years for the French version): offering informed readers like you unique information on Israel and the Jewish world.
Today we have a favor to ask you. Unlike other media outlets, our website is accessible to everyone. But the journalism work we do comes at a price, so we ask readers who care about our work to support us by joining the ToI community.
With the amount of your choice, you can help us provide quality journalism while benefiting from reading the Times of Israël without advertisements.
Thank you,
David Horovitz, editor-in-chief and founder of The Times of Israel
Join the Times of Israel community Join the Times of Israel community Already a member? Log in to no longer see this message
