Volksdeutsche Bewegung

German National Movement
Volksdeutsche Bewegung
AbbreviationVdB
LeaderDamian Kratzenberg[1]
Founded1940 (1940)
Dissolved1944 (1944)
Preceded byLuxemburger Gesellschaft für Deutsche Literatur und Kunst
Membership84,000 (1942 est.)
IdeologyNazism
Political positionFar-right
SloganHeim ins Reich
Membership card for the Volksdeutsche Bewegung, issued in 1940

Volksdeutsche Bewegung (German; literally "Ethnic German Movement") ("Volksdeutsche" was a term used to describe ethnic Germans living outside the borders of Germany, and Germans who lived inside of the Germany were called "Reichsdeutsche") was a Nazi movement in Luxembourg that flourished under the German-occupied Luxembourg during World War II.

Propaganda of the Volksdeutsche Bewegung.

Formed by Damian Kratzenberg, a university professor with a German background, the movement only emerged after the invasion and was declared the only legal political movement in Luxembourg by the Nazis. Using the slogan Heim ins Reich (Home to the Reich), their declared aim was the full incorporation of Luxembourg into Nazi Germany. The policy was supported by Nazis who used the Bewegung as means towards this end.[2] The aim was accomplished in August 1942, although the VDB continued to operate and peaked at 84,000 members. Many of these joined when it became clear that membership was necessary to retain employment. A number of leading members also held dual membership of the National Socialist German Workers Party after incorporation. The movement disappeared after the war, and Kratzenberg was executed in 1946.

  1. ^ Marson, Pierre. "Damian Kratzenberg". Dictionnaire des auteurs luxembourgeois. Centre national de littérature.
  2. ^ "An Hour of Glory: The Strike at the Luxembourg Post Office, 1 September 1942". Archived from the original on 7 July 2007. Retrieved 25 April 2007.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia · View on Wikipedia

Developed by Nelliwinne