Why are so many municipalities in Lot-et-Garonne twinned with villages in Alsace?

Bantzenheim, Grussenheim or even Biesheim… While driving on the roads of Marmandais, and more broadly of Lot-et-Garonne, you have inevitably already come across the entrance sign to a village indicating that it was twinned with a commune in Haut-Rhin.

In the district of Marmande, to which we must add Casteljaloux, we find 13 municipalities officially twinned with an Alsatian counterpart. The Departmental Council of Lot-et-Garonne is itself twinned with that of Haut-Rhin.

500,000 people evacuated from Alsace

For more than 80 years, friendly links have been maintained by twinning committees but a much darker story is hidden behind these pairings.

A unique bond between each of its communes was formed in the fear of the start of the Second World War. As the Germans invaded Poland on September 1, 1939, the evacuation of hundreds of thousands of Alsatians is ordered.

“The villages located between the Maginot line and the Rhine were evacuated from the first day,” explains Joëlle Dreano, president of the Gontaud-Bantzenheim twinning committee. Better than anyone, she knows the story like the back of her hand, his mother having been one of those evacuated.

The population was warned in the morning to leave in the afternoon.

These are in all 500,000 Alsatians and Mosellans from 200 villages that were evacuated. On a large scale, cities like Périgueux or Agen welcomed the inhabitants of Strasbourg and Colmar respectively.

The cultural clash between Alsace and the South-West

“The South-West was chosen because it was the most remote region but also because the very agricultural economy here was similar to that of Alsace, particularly on viticulture and cereals. »

However, the exodus of hundreds of thousands of Alsatians, torn from their lands, did not happen without pain. A real cultural shock for everyone. “The elders only spoke Alsatian, we took them for boches. The interior of the houses was very different, Lot-et-Garonne was very remote compared to Alsace where kitchens and bathrooms were beginning to be well equipped. »

In Gontaud, the 800 people evacuated, after three days of traveling in cattle wagons, were gathered in the village square to be distributed among families.

Strong bonds of friendship engraved for life

“The Gontaudais had very little time to organize themselves. My mother with her mother and her little brother ended up being welcomed by the notary. Many people were housed in barns because there were not enough free houses. »

But time doing its work, the complicated integration of the beginnings has given way to the creation of unique links.

After a year, strong friendships were formed and even love. My mother is the perfect example.

Like others, his mother will not return to live in Alsace and will rebuild his life in Lot-et-Garonne. But a year after their arrival in the South-West, the Alsatians were requisitioned to return to their lands, then annexed by Nazi Germany. “There was a need to keep the economy alive there. After a year, many were torn between leaving their friends and not knowing what they would find back home. There were no news outlets at the time so they had no idea what was going on. »

After the war, the bonds had become so strong that “Alsatians have returned. Then, it was people from Gontaud who went to Alsace. » The breeding ground for twinning was born. “The first twinning between two municipalities was that between Le Mas-d’Agenais and Biesheim,” remembers Joëlle Dreano.

“The committees are there to perpetuate the cultural enrichment born from the meeting between populations. » It is also a salutary duty of memorywhich tends to erode over time. Against fatalism, the Gontaud committee is considering joining forces with those of Seyches and St-Barthélemy, or even others, to pool ideas, travel costs and above all, the fact of never forgetting what it is. has passed.

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