Luxembourgish collaboration with Nazi Germany

During the German occupation of Luxembourg in World War II, several Luxembourgers acted in collaboration with Nazi Germany, as also occurred in other countries occupied by the Third Reich. Their number, however, was limited.

In 1945, 5,101 Luxembourgers, including 2,857 men and 2,244 women were in prison for political activities, constituting 1,79 percent of the population. 12 collaborators were sentenced to death and were shot in Reckenthal in Luxembourg City. 249 were sentenced to forced labour, 1366 were sentenced to prison and 645 were sent to workhouses. Approximately 0,8 percent of the population were legally punished, then.

This included one former minister, the 1925-1926 prime minister Pierre Prüm, who was sentenced in 1946 to four years' imprisonment. At least one mayor was also deposed for political activities by grand-ducal decree on 4 April 1945.

Apart from their political activities, collaborators also had to account for their actions against Jews, the denunciation of hidden forced conscripts and spying on the Luxembourgish population.

The term Gielemännchen (yellow men) was adopted under the occupation first for the German Nazis in general, then for Luxembourgish collaborators with the occupiers. The term came from the yellow uniforms of the Nazi Party.

See also

• Volksdeutsche Bewegung
• Luxembourgish Resistance
• Luxembourg in World War II

Further reading

• Archives nationales (eds.), 2008. Collaboration: nazification? Le cas du Luxembourg à la lumière des situations française, belge et néerlandaise. Actes du colloque international, Centre culturel de rencontre Abbaye de Neumünster, May 2006. 479 p. Imprimerie Hengen, Luxembourg.
• Benoît Majerus: Kollaboration in Luxemburg: die falsche Frage? In: ...et wor alles net esou einfach - Questions sur le Luxembourg et la Deuxième Guerre mondiale ; exhibition book, published by 'Musée d'Histoire de la Ville de Luxembourg', Vol. X; Luxembourg, 2002; p. 126-140.