The Kaiser's men’s medals

[TabsTabs1964]

Many of them were captured by the Russians or deserted and were sent as prisoners to camps, such as the one in Tambov.


This image has been used to illustrate Alsatians prisoners in the USSR on their way to captivity...


This is what we see on the cover of this book on the subject.


However, in this other book (that I own) in which the photo is also on the cover, specialized in images of German and Russian prisoners, nothing is said other than that the men in the image are Alsatian or Lorraine.


Very curious collage of a survivor denouncing the injustice of the captivity and death of many comrades who surrendered to the Soviets, but spent years in the gulag...

There, 450 kilometers southeast of Moscow, of the more than 14,000 captured by the Red Army, between 3,000 and 6,000 died of malnutrition, dysentery or cold.

Of the approximately 130,000 men called up to join the German army since the autumn of 1942, more than 40,000 never returned: 31,321 died and another 9,000 are recorded as missing in action.

[TabsTabs1964]

The Return of the Fifteen Hundred

Captured by the Soviets, Alsatian and Moselle prisoners experienced the rigors and horrors of the Tambov camp. In July 1944, the Russian authorities authorized 1,500 "Malgré-Nous" to join the Free French Forces in North Africa, via Tehran. Towards the end of the war, five convoys repatriated another 10,000 from the Tambov camp. In total, of the 132,000 Malgré-Nous, more than 40,000 never returned home.


Malgré-Nous of Alsace and Moselle awaiting transfer from Tambov, (one of the 148 Soviet camps where those forcibly recruited into the Wehrmacht were registered).


On July 7, 1944, 1,500 Alsatians and Lorraineans were authorized to leave the Russian camp at Tambov.


The long way home of the Tambov 1,500

As part of the Franco-German reconciliation, in 1963 the "Malgré-Nous" were rehabilitated. Ten years later, a series of decrees recognized their disabilities related to their captivity and granted them the same pensions as soldiers who had fought for France.


The blue circles on the map indicate where the protagonists of this story died. The larger the circle, the greater the number of casualties in the area.

[TabsTabs1964]

And once again, everything changed in 1944...






The tables turned again


Street sign in Kaysersberg


Obernai (Bas-Rhin) Monument MalgréNous

I apologize in advance for the mistakes I have undoubtedly made.

[TabsTabs1964]

When we started talking about the different states of the German Empire, we did so based on a wonderful postcard from my collection.
Now we close that part of our story with another of my postcards with incredible relief.

Now it's "Germania" that is surrounded by the coats of arms of all of them.



But don't worry, friends, we still have a few stories, places, characters and decorations ahead of us....

Regards
Santi