Event

The impact of war experiences in Europe – The conscription of non-German men and women into the Wehrmacht and Reichsarbeitsdienst (1938-1945)

  • Lieu

    Maison du Savoir

    2, avenue de l'Université

    L-4365, Esch-sur-Alzette, LU

  • Thème(s)
    Sciences humaines

International conference organised by the C²DH WARLUX team.

In connection with the WARLUX research project, launched in 2020 at the Luxembourg Centre for Contemporary and Digital History (C²DH) / University of Luxembourg, we are pleased to invite you to our international conference on 26-28 October 2022. The conference will focus on the impact of war experiences of non-German nationals serving in the Nazi German armed forces and labour organisations.

The conference will be organised in a hybrid mode, which will allow for both physical and online participation.

Please register here.

For more information please contact: warlux@uni.lu

PROGRAMME

Wednesday, 26 October

17.30   

Arrival & Registration

18.00

Welcome by Denis Scuto

18.15

Keynote “Historicizing Experiences of War: Profits and Pitfalls of Narratological Approaches

Jörg Echternkamp, Zentrum für Militärgeschichte und Sozialwissenschaften der Bundeswehr (ZMSBw) / Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg

Thursday, 27 October

09.00   

Registration

09.15

PANEL 1 – Mechanisms of recruitment and military service

Moderator: Peter M. Quadflieg

Naturalisation and Military Service during the Second World War

Denis Scuto, C²DH, University of Luxembourg

Being a Soldier – Between individual and soldierly experientality of Luxembourgish recruits in WWII

Nina Janz, C²DH, University of Luxembourg

Fighting for the enemy: recruitment of Slovenians for the Waffen-SS during the Second World War

Klemen Kocjancic, Defence Research Centre of the Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Ljubljana

11.15

Coffee break

11.45

PANEL 2 – Shifting allegiances

Moderator: Christoph Brüll

Identity change as a survival strategy: Forcibly mobilized Wehrmacht soldiers applying for the Allied armies-in-exile

Zdenko Maršálek, Institute of Contemporary History/Czech Academy of Sciences

From ‘forced conscription’ to compulsory military service: Luxembourg’s ‘forced conscripts’ and the question of post-war military service

Felix Streicher, Department of History, Maastricht University

Nina Janz, C²DH, University of Luxembourg

Friends and/or Enemies? Conflicting Loyalties among Soldiers Fighting Both in the German Army and the Allied Forces

Machteld Venken, C²DH, University of Luxembourg

13.15

Lunch break

14.30

PANEL 3 – War experiences from below

Moderator: Sonja Kmec

Adaptive Stances of East Belgians in the Wehrmacht and Reichsarbeitsdienst (1940-1945). Insights Through Ego Documents

Philippe Beck, Zentrum für Ostbelgische Geschichte & UCLouvain

Forcibly Mobilised Slovene Soldiers in Wehrmacht – Diaries’ Analysis of their War Experiences

Monika Kokalj Kočevar, National Museum of Contemporary History of Slovenia

15.30

Coffee break

15.45

Paper and ink in the Soviet camp 188 in Tambov: capturing the camp life of Luxembourger conscripts 

Inna Ganschow, C²DH, University of Luxembourg

Navigating War and Identity: Malgré-nous Marc(z)ell Wolfersberger in the German Army, 1942-1944

David W. Wildermuth, Shippensburg State University

18.30

Keynote “’Forced conscripts’ in history and memory”

Elizabeth Vlossak, Brock University

20.00

Dinner for the participants

Friday, 28 October

09.30   

PANEL 4 – Draft evasion, desertion, imprisonment and their consequences

Moderator: Jean-Noel Grandhomme

Family liability and Umsiedlung – Consequences of desertion on families of Luxembourgish recruits (1942-1945)

Sarah Maya Vercruysse, C²DH, University of Luxembourg

Beihilfe zur Fahnenflucht in der Rechtsprechung der deutschen Sondergerichten auf den besetzten Gebieten Polens (1939-1945)

Konrad Graczyk, University of Silesia in Katowice & Institute of National Remembrance in Warsaw

10.30

Coffee break

10.45

La captivité des Malgré-Nous alsaciens & mosellans chez les Alliés anglo-saxons

Philippe Gény, l’École Doctorale de l’Université Bordeaux Montaigne

Alsatian Draft Evaders in Switzerland (1942-1945)

Tobias Kossytor, European University Institute

11.45

Closing discussion

12.15

Lunch