Evacuated persons at the french-german border in 1939-1945 – EDEFFA

This program is a comparative study of both national and local experiments, with a diachronic approach.We need to explain the administrative experiment of the evacuation in a democratic and pluralist society like France in the 1930's and in an other political system like the german national-socialist state. On the one hand, we have a nation state ; on the other hand, we see the project of a Volksgemeinschaft, or a german «people community«. So, it's necessary to assume the administrative and institutionnal tradition in both countries, especially with the matter of civil law, on peace and on war.

- overall view of the french sources in the departements, ministeries and central administrations (A. Savoye)

- server with common access to all programm members to share inforlations, sources, scientific bibliography, methodological papers (N. Williams)

- construction of a global map of the evacuations in France et Germany (Maude Fagot).

The year 2014/2015 will be consecrated to the preparation of the final conference and the final publication common to all programm members.

A 4th workshop will be organised during the automn 2014 to prepare this next steps of the programm.

Olivier Forcade, Johannes Großmann, Rainer Hudemann, Fabian Lemmes, Nicholas Williams (dir.), Les évacuations dans l’Europe des guerres mondiales, Berlin, Metropol Verlag, à paraître en septembre 2014 (actes du colloque de préfiguration du programme)

Nicholas J. Williams: Von „Saarfranzosen“ und „Zigeunervolk“. Saarbrücker Evakuierte als „Opfer“?, in: Hans-Christian Herrmann, Ruth Bauer (Hg.), Widerstand, Repression und Verfolgung. Beiträge zur Geschichte des Nationalsozialismus an der Saar, St. Ingbert: Röhrig, 2014

Maude Fagot, « La guerre des ondes en France et en Allemagne pendant la drôle de guerre », in: Revue historique, 2014, t. CCCXVII/3, n° 671, pp. 629-654.

Over one million german and french people were evacuated from the border's cities of Karlsruhe, Sarrebruck and Strasbourg in 1939-1940 ; more often, they were coming from Alsace and Moselle in France, Sarre, Bade and Palatinat in Germany. During the first world war, the french government has already experimenced such an exodus of its population, especially in North and East France because of the german invasion. The french people was remembering this traumatic experience during the period of inter-war. In 1939, these evacuations of population were aimed at several purposes. This program is a comparative study of both national and local experiments, with a diachronic approach. For the "displaced persons", there were social, economic, cultural and political, consequences determined by administrative and stragegic plans. The analysis of the evacuation and the reception of people were the second goal, in order to understand the characteristics of the displacement, by written sources and interviews. It was a special experiment to leave the native country or the region of origins. We need to explain the administrative experiment of the evacuation in a democratic and pluralist society like France in the 1930's and in an other political system like the german national-socialist state. On the one hand, we have a nation state ; on the other hand, we see the project of a Volksgemeinschaft, or a german "people community". So, it's necessary to assume the administrative and institutionnal tradition in both countries, especially with the matter of civil law, on peace and on war.
The second objective is to examin the story of the displacements for understanding political identities and the view of the political futur after the war. The main question is the cultural and political fealing of population to their "home country", their town and their local community. Is it possible to evaluate the degree of adhesion to the country and to the political system for french and german people who were leaving near or on the borders ? What are the key of their local political identity and did they believe they shared the same story as the rest of the nation ? Except for the state, many private or public organisations were concerned by the displaced persons. It was the case of public medical institution, of private humanitarian organisations, of the Church in France. Between the state and the private institution, international organisations as the League of nations and, after the war, as the international Organisation of refugees could be concerned from time to time. The main goal of the program is to understand the common story of the borders regions, a "transnational" land between France and Germany.