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Re: Strasbourg Evacuation 1939
Hi Jim,
..I was looking for info on this subject in Henri Amouroux's 'Le peuple du désastre' yesterday (P126-130 if you need the reference) - and then saw your post..
population of Strasbourg went to south-western France, principally Périgueux in the Dordogne in rail wagons, journey took around three days, some 11,000 refugees arriving at the station daily. Linguistic difficulties were commonplace - announcements,signs etc were put up in French & German & regional papers such as 'Les dernieres nouvelles d'Alsace' printed German-language editions in Bordeaux. The newcomers were often referred to as 'Boches' by the locals. Other border town populations- Metz, Colmar etc - were also allocated 'reception' towns in the south-west. Since these were poor rural areas with little industry, thousands of unemployed 'Alsaciens' were subsequently relocated to industrial centres to work in factories. But it wasn't just border towns that were evacuated. Amouroux estimates that by Xmas 1939 over 500,000 Parisiens were living in twelve départements in southern France.
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