Expulsions in Alsace and Lorraine (1940-1944)

Abstract

The Nazi expulsions of Alsatians and Lorrainers in 1940-1944 inserted themselves in a long history of population transfers in Alsace-Lorraine, but differed radically in their systematic and coercive character. Their preparation, the conflicts among Nazi officials (Bürckel, Abetz, Ribbentrop) over their compatibility with the Montoire collaboration policy, and their impact on refugees in France have not yet been analyzed synthetically.
This article analyzes the expulsions in Alsace and Lorraine from 1940 to 1944, examining the preparation (the role of Gauleiter Bürckel, conflicts with the collaboration policy), the conduct of the operations (categories of victims, numbers expelled, transplants to the Warthegau), and the integration of refugees in unoccupied France.
The analysis draws on French and German archival sources, reports of the Commissariat for the Fight against Unemployment, lists of the Refugees Directorate at the Ministry of the Interior, and the press of Alsatian and Lorrainer refugee associations (G.E.R.A.L.).
The analysis shows that Bürckel, Gauleiter of Lorraine, originated the expulsions; Hitler personally gave the go-ahead on 2 November 1940 despite the reservations of Abetz, who favored the Montoire collaboration policy. The main categories of expellees were approximately 65,000 French-speaking Lorraine farmers and 40-45,000 francophile townspeople. Transplants to the Warthegau numbered only 2,700. By 1 September 1941, 100,704 persons were still receiving state assistance. Integration in southwestern France was facilitated by agricultural activity, but dispersal across 43 departments made progressive assimilation quite inevitable. The German policy of systematic Germanization of Alsace-Lorraine ultimately failed: those who remained kept a silently hostile attitude toward the occupation regime.