Commemorative stamp series - Germany / German Democratic Republic 1971 - 25 Pfennig

Memorial in Wiltz / Luxembourg The head of civil administration, Nazi leader Simon, introduced compulsory military service on 30 August 1942 in the country occupied by the German fascists, Luxembourg. On August 31, 1942, workers and employees in Wiltz and various other parts of the country protested by strikes against this arbitrariness. A total of 21 of the Luxembourg citizens involved in the strikes were sentenced to death. In their honor and the living as a reminder the memorial in Wiltz was erected, which is depicted on the special postage stamp issued by the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications of the German Democratic Republic. The memorial of Wiltz / Luxembourg The week from 30th August to 5th September 1942 is a constant memory of the people of Luxembourg. This week brought much suffering, but also the earnest determination to oppose the Nazi tyranny. The German-fascist occupiers had occupied the small country - ignoring all international treaties - militarily and tried to involve the population in their war crimes. In contrast, the population of Luxembourg defended itself. On August 30, 1942, the German-fascist administration announced the introduction of compulsory military service for Luxembourgers. They should become soldiers of the Nazi Wehrmacht. Five years - the flowering of the people - should be confiscated immediately. When this decision became known, all strata of the people seized on profound indignation; There were strikes and protests in all parts of the country. In the town of Wiltz, the workers of the "Ideal" leather factory laid down their work and marched in protest at the city. The teachers also decided not to teach. The Nazi rulers tried to counter this popular resistance with terror. In Wiltz six teachers - the colleagues Brück, Maas, Poos, Even, Lommel and Meyers - were arrested, taken to the concentration camp Hinzert and horribly maltreated. The Nazi rulers wanted to enforce their intention by force, because the blitzkrieg strategy was broken by the heroic resistance of the Soviet peoples. Therefore, on September 2, 1942, a tribunal trial was conducted against the six teachers, with the teachers Brück, Even, Lommel and Meyers sentenced to death and murdered on September 3, 1942 in the concentration camp Hinzert. The same happened to the Wiltz community secretary Müller and the head of the city economic office, Worré. Because they had joined the demonstration of the leather workers, they were also sentenced to death by the court of law and executed. But the resistance of the Luxembourg people did not diminish. The Nazi Gauleiter Simon ordered ruthless action. Thus, another fifteen Luxembourg patriots were arrested and also murdered. Particularly affected were the places Ettelbrück, Diekirch, Luxembourg, Schifflingen and Differdingen. Here, too, the population carried out strikes and protests against Nazi slavery and brutal regulations. All these murders were a manifestation of a brutal political terror against a small people who stood up for their independence and were unwilling to support the barbaric war of German imperialism against other peoples. The population has never subsided in the fight against the Nazi occupiers. The memorial was erected in Wiltz to honor the generations to come, to commemorate the unforgotten sacrifices. The legacy of the victims of blood-stained German fascism obliges all people of good will to cultivate and deepen international friendship and never again to allow fascism and war.