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THE FIGARO ARCHIVES – After the liberation of the Alsatian capital by General Leclerc’s 2nd DB, Le Figaro roamed the streets of a city bruised by four years of occupation.
«France for the second time finds lost Alsace”exclaims on the front page of Figaro on November 24, 1944, academician André Siegfried, a Le Havre resident of Mulhouse ancestry. The day before, the division commanded by General Leclerc, entered the first, followed by American and British troops, into the streets of Strasbourg, delivering the Alsatian capital from the German yoke. After the landings in Normandy and then in Provence, the allied troops achieved their objective: to liberate Alsace and the Moselle annexed after the armistice of 1940.
For Leclerc, it is the culmination of the Koufra oath taken on March 2, 1941. “Swear to lay down your arms only when our colors, our beautiful colors, fly again over Strasbourg Cathedral,” he had promised. to his men in the Libyan desert.
The front page of Le Figaro on November 24, 1944. Le Figaro
Au Figarothe war correspondent James de Coquet, who had followed the British army in Holland before rallying the troops of General de Lattre de Tassigny in front of Colmar, arrived in Strasbourg on November 26 and gave readers his first impressions collected during the first Sunday of freedom experienced by the people of Strasbourg.
Article published in Le Figaro on November 28, 1944
First Sunday in liberated Strasbourg
Strasbourg, November 26. The black headdress of an Alsatian woman in a corner of the map of France is like the rose in the corner of a Fragonard painting: it authenticates the painting. Without this Alsace, something would be missing from the design of France. So it is the very image of the country that we see reforming in the footsteps of Leclerc’s division on this first Sunday of reconquered Alsace, a Sunday where sun and rain alternate. Because the sky offers us a reflection of military operations: it is not yet cleaned.
Sarrebourg, Phalsbourg, Saverne, in these small towns which have been written so many times in our history and which, only since yesterday, have found their real names, French colors have flowed from every window. On the doorsteps, young girls wear this charming black headdress which is the oldest of the Resistance. They smile at the passing soldiers, they wave little flags like in Uncle Hans’s old albums.
Soldiers and young people from Strasbourg in traditional costume celebrate the liberation of the city in November 1944. – / AFP
Here is Strasbourg finally, seriously damaged by the war, a little disfigured by four years of intensive occupation, but just waiting to be revived and reintegrated into the French community. For now, its population is barely half of what it once was. There are several reasons for this. First the evacuation of 1939 which made it, overnight, a ghost town, then the expulsions of 1940, then the bombings of recent months which forced part of the population to exodus towards the countryside, and finally the raids by the Wehrmacht and the Labor Service, which could only be avoided by escape. Without doubt, there had been, since the clandestine annexation of Alsace, an influx of Germans who had filled the gaps in the Alsatian population. But an even more rapid ebb has carried them away, during these last days, in the footsteps of Gauleiter Wagner.
Nazi propaganda
In the Petite France district, where the old facades bathe their gables in the four arms of the Ill, many houses are on the ground. Some beautiful buildings, such as the Rhine Palace or the prefecture, also suffered. But, overall, Strasbourg would keep its appearance if it were not for this systematic Germanization that it has been subjected to. On the famous Place Kléber, the monument to Bonaparte’s companion has disappeared and the square is today dedicated to Karl Ross, the man of the famous Ross trial. Place du Maréchal de Broglie was dedicated to Corporal Adolf Hitler, and Avenue de la Marseillaise in Hindenburg. The Germans did not want Kléber to have been born here or that the Marseillaise had been sung there for the first time and, with this ingenuity which is one of the sides of this otherwise so astute people, they thought that it was enough to change plates blue lights on street corners to abolish a few pages of French History.
General Leclerc honors the city of Strasbourg liberated on November 23, 1944. / Bridgeman Images
Nazi propaganda was naturally more intense here than anywhere else. On all the walls of the city, we can see enormous placards, painted in beautiful Gothic letters on the stone, which say: The Anglo-Americans and the Bolsheviks bring war, chaos, hunger, unemployment. The National Socialists fight until final victory for the bread and freedom of these people.
In the “Party House”, one of the most beautiful modern buildings in the city, where our soldiers bivouack today, we find stocks of literature on the immorality of France or the crimes of the Intelligence Service.
Books, brochures, leaflets, leaflets, posters, there are tons of them. As for the portraits of Hitler, there are so many that it is mind-blowing. We only see him, printed in thousands of copies, in black and in color, in pencil, charcoal or pen. He is represented in all outfits and in all poses. We even see him brandishing the standard of the Great Reich, a faithful and mustachioed replica of Frémiet’s Joan of Arc.
War on their doorstep
This is what the people of Strasbourg have just escaped. If it is not yet a city in jubilation – the war is on their threshold – it is, at least, a city which breathes, which finally feels free. This morning the entire population attended the religious services celebrated in honor of the liberation and, this afternoon, the crowd flocked to Place Kléber – it has never ceased to be called that – where the first taking up arms of the Leclerc division. Among the civilians, many uniforms are mixed in. Among them we see more than one arm in a sling, more than one cap placed on a bandage. We are in a city at war. Fort Ney, the last one held by the enemy, only surrendered the day before. In the fort, where the name of Foch has been replaced by that of Manteuffel (the Stupnagel of Paris of 1871), six thousand German prisoners are waiting to be evacuated towards the interior.
This morning I went to visit the advanced posts near the Kehl bridge, still in enemy hands. On the banks of the little lion, a French section was there, at the extreme edge of the war. She was taking inventory of the cans of food that the occupant had left in his blockhouse. But, in front of the door, the bodies of three of our people attested to the violence of the night’s fighting. On one side, the loot and, on the other, the dead. War, too, has eternal characteristics.
By James de Coquet
**How did the experience of liberation shape the residents’ perspectives on their identity and belonging to Strasbourg in the immediate post-war period?**
This article provides a firsthand account of the liberation of Strasbourg in 1944, highlighting the impact of Nazi occupation and the city’s immediate post-war situation. Here’s a potential framework for discussing it, divided into thematic sections:
**Section 1: The Burden of Occupation**
* **Open-ended Questions:**
* How did the Nazi regime’s policies shape the lives of the people of Strasbourg?
* The article mentions a significant decline in Strasbourg’s population. What factors contributed to this, and what were the social and economic consequences?
* How did the forced expulsion of residents and the influx of German citizens attempt to reshape the city’s identity?
**Section 2: Erasure and Replacement: Nazi Propaganda**
* **Open-ended Questions:**
* What strategies did the Nazis employ to erase French culture and history from Strasbourg? Why was this effort so intense in Strasbourg specifically?
* Analyze the methods used in the Nazi propaganda campaign. How effective do you think they were in influencing the population?
* How might the presence of German propaganda have impacted the mental and emotional state of the residents?
**Section 3: Liberation and Uncertain Future**
* **Open-ended Questions:**
* What were the immediate reactions and emotions of the people of Strasbourg upon liberation?
* What challenges did the city face in the aftermath of the war? How did the presence of troops and the ongoing conflict affect daily life?
**Section 4: The Scars of War**
* **Open-ended Questions:**
* The article mentions both physical damage to the city and the ongoing presence of war on its “doorstep.” How do you think these factors shaped the sense of recovery and rebuilding in Strasbourg?
* How do you think the experience of liberation affected long-term perspectives on war and peace for the people of Strasbourg?
**Additional Discussion Points:**
* **Comparative Perspectives:** How does the experience of Strasbourg compare to the experiences of other occupied cities during World War II?
* **Legacy of Trauma:** What long-lasting impacts does the Nazi occupation and war likely have on the collective memory and identity of Strasbourg?
* **Reconciliation:** How might Strasbourg have sought to reconcile with its past and rebuild its identity after the war?
Let me know if you’d like me to delve deeper into any specific aspect or theme.
