Strasbourg Evacuation 1939

[Jim Oxley]

In September 1939 the entire population of Strasbourg was evacuated. Being so close to the German border it was considered unsafe for the population of approximately 200,000 people to remain.

Where were the people sent? How was it achieved? And when did they return? And were any other major towns evacuated, on either side of the Border?

[Dénes Bernád]

The other question would be how many of the inhabitants were ethnic French and ethnic German in 1939?

[Jim Oxley]

So no-one can shed any light on this? Not even our French friends?

[FalkeEins]

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.

[Jim Oxley]

Blimey! The scale of relocations is really quite surprising. Were the people allowed to return once France signed the armistice?

[FalkeEins]

Originally Posted by Jim Oxley

Blimey! The scale of relocations is really quite surprising. Were the people allowed to return once France signed the armistice?

..yes, wry smile here too...our European neighbours are very good at organising mass rail transit...

...can't see the occupying power laying on trains to transport eveyone home somehow - not that French 'Alsaciens' wanted to go home. Alsace was quickly 're-germanised' of course - the Mark became the official currency, French was banned, as was wearing the beret... etc etc...elsewhere many ethnic German 'Alsacien' refugees throughout France went to the new authorities to sign up as fully fledged Germans of course. The French 'administration' told them that they were 'free to stay or go home'...cf Amouroux P 552, 10 August 1940, ten buses, 3 cars and ten lorries departed Perigueux for Strasbourg...

[CJE]

Well, it's a very touchy matter over here.
Alsacians were neither French nor German and both at the same time!
Anyone coming in from outside Alsace was refered to as "French from the interior" and still is even nowadays.
However, most of the Alsacians (and Lorrans) "impressed" into the Wehrmacht called themselves the "malgré-nous" (against our will). They fought on the German side with little eargerness and few of them volunteered to join in the SS Division Charlemagne.