Description

September 1, 1939: the outbreak of the Second World War marked the start of six years of suffering for the residents of Strasbourg. Within three days, the entire population was evacuated to southwest France, and Strasbourg became a dead city. When the refugees returned to their city a year later, Alsace had become part of the Third Reich. The Nazis pursued a brutal policy of forced Germanization, which finally led to the forced enlistment of men in the German army. Although the town was liberated by French troops on November 23, 1944, it nonetheless remained under German cannon fire until mid-April 1945.