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

26 October 2022 to 28 October 2022

WARLUX international conference
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.

We are honoured to welcome two internationally distinguished keynote speakers:

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

Historicizing Experiences of War: Profits and Pitfalls of Narratological Approaches

Date & time: 26 October 2022 - 6 pm
Location: University of Luxembourg - Campus Belval - Maison du Savoir - MSA 3.330

and

Prof. Dr. Elizabeth Vlossak, Brock University, Canada

'Forced conscripts' in history and memory

Date & time: 27 October 2022 - 6 pm
Location: University of Luxembourg - Campus Belval - Maison du Savoir - MSA 3.330

 

26-28 October 2022

Location: Maison du Savoir, Belval Campus, room 3.160 (conference) and MSA 3.330 (keynotes)

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

Please register using this form.

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
 
19.30 End of Day 1

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

 

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