Here you find two sections of the database containing a list of conscripted individuals from Schifflange and a selection of war letters transcribed during the project.
The database of conscripts gives an overview of the young men from Schifflange who were born between 1920 and 1927 and served in the Reichsarbeitsdienst and/or Wehrmacht. In addition to the individual’s biographical information and a link to the "ons-jongen-a-meedercher" website of the "Fédération des enrôlés de force" (FEDEF), you will also find general information about their whereabouts at the end of the war, the services in which they served and if potential signs of desertion/draft evasion were found. (Note that the indications of desertion/draft evasion stem from both verified cases and post-war claims by soldiers). This overview is a condensed version of the original database that was compiled by the researchers. Because of restrictions related to GDPR (for people who are still alive) and legislation on archives, a lot of data could not be publicly shared. The soldier pictures have been obtained from both the "ons-jongen-a-meedercher" website and the periodical "Ons Jongen," originally published between 1944 and 1950.
The letters offer an insight into the diverse correspondence between the families at home, the soldiers at the front and the prisoners in POW camps. The letters include information about the sender and receiver, as well as the date and location, although the location is often noted as “O.U.” (Ort der Unterkunft, place of current deployment) or “Im Felde” (in the field) for reasons of military censorship, making it difficult to determine the exact location. The letter writers come from all over Luxembourg and provide a unique glimpse into the experiences of conscripted Luxembourgers.
Although the project officially ended in March 2024, the website will continue to be developed gradually and new information regarding the conscripts and letters will become available over time.
The dataset has been constructed using primary source materials, encompassing both official and personal documents obtained from Luxembourgish and international archives, as well as museum and private collections. To gain a clearer insight into the data, it is essential to understand the challenges faced and decisions made during the dataset's creation.
It is important to note that providing a final and definitive list of all men who were conscripted or affected by the conscription order is not feasible because of several uncertainties. The existing lists from the post-war Luxembourg government and the Schifflange municipality are incomplete and contain errors. For instance, some men were counted twice, and others were recorded by a different municipality as they moved during the war. There are also cases where the names of certain men appear on one list, but no further information could be found in the Luxembourgish or German archives regarding their military service or personal details. The information found in the documents can also contradict each other due to incorrect notation, miscommunication, distortion of facts, and other factors.
The German archives also suffer from significant gaps as a result of war damage, intentional destruction by the Nazis, confiscation of documents and the dispersion of wartime documents across different continents. These factors contribute to a lack of detailed documentation on individuals’ wartime experiences, including the specific camps and activities they were involved in. Consequently, the available information in the dataset is limited in terms of service details and specific locations where individuals were stationed during the war.
The sources also show uncertainty regarding the nationality of the affected men. The lists created by the occupation administration include both Luxembourgish and Reich German citizens. As Luxembourgish soldiers also acquired German citizenship at the start of their military service (following the Nationality Act of 23 August 1942), differentiating between individuals who were already Reich German citizens before the war and those who obtained citizenship during the occupation presented a challenge. While some cases have been resolved by comparisons with other sources or verification in the national register, there are still cases that remain unclear.
Mobility further complicated the selection of affected individuals. In some archival documentation, a person’s name may only appear once, but it is possible that they moved to another municipality, such as the neighbouring Bettembourg. Consequently, they may have been conscripted from that particular commune rather than Schifflange. This mobility within the region/country added complexity to the identification of affected men from Schifflange.
The majority of the conscripted men from Schifflange were deployed in RAD camps located in other occupied territories and in the Reich itself. Unfortunately, given the limited availability of comprehensive data and documentation, detailed information regarding their specific camps and activities could not be extensively gathered.
The Central Information Bureau of Wehrmacht soldiers, formerly known as the Wehrmachtauskunftstelle (WASt) and now part of the German Federal Archives, was responsible for registering incoming soldiers, maintaining their personal data and documenting their unit assignments. However, as a result of extensive destruction and gaps in the available data, the information pertaining to military service is highly fragmented. For some men from Schifflange, only their home address was recorded, while for others, only their initial unit in the Reserve Army is known and no further details are available. In some cases, only confirmation of their death and burial has been preserved. These factors contribute to the limited and incomplete nature of the available information regarding the military service of individuals from Schifflange in the Wehrmacht and Waffen-SS.
Because of the significant fragmentation of war documentation, additional information from post-war records in Luxembourg was used. These records provided valuable insights into various aspects, including injuries sustained during the war, imprisonments, desertions and defections. The Dommages de Guerre (War Damage) documentation from the Schifflange Municipal Archives and the National Archives particularly proved to be of immense value in obtaining such information. These post-war sources played a crucial role in complementing and enhancing the available data on the experiences of individuals from Schifflange during and after the war.
In addition to official sources, valuable information was extracted from a variety of private and published material. The online portal of the Fédération des Enrôlés de Force served as a valuable resource, providing additional data and context. Comprehensive memoirs and individual biographies also offered rich insights into the experiences of individuals from Schifflange during the war.
Furthermore, a crowdsourcing campaign by the WARLUX team in 2021 proved to be instrumental in gathering valuable insights on military deployment and personal experiences. Letters and diaries contributed by individuals and their families provided personal accounts of their wartime journeys. This grassroots effort offered a deeper understanding of the lived experiences and perspectives of those involved in the conflict. The inclusion of private and published material, along with the collaborative nature of the crowdsourcing campaign, greatly enriched the dataset and provided a more comprehensive view of the subject matter.
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