War, Borders and Expulsions

The National Socialists wanted to replace the European order that had been established after the First World War. Their aim was to create a colonial Empire under racist auspices. Military successes enabled brutal expulsions which, from the very beginning, were accompanied by murder. Eastern Europe stood as the focus of the Nazi regime during this process, and it would become the centre of violence.

In academic circles self-proclaimed “western explorers” developed a strategy that would result in the fragmentation of France. The Wehrmacht attacked France on the 10^th of May 1940. A cease-fire was agreed upon six weeks later. The result was the division of France into an occupied and an unoccupied zone. The French government decided that the town of Vichy should be the new seat of power.

The plans for France responded to the sober deliberations of military and European strategy, ranging from collaboration and cooperation to annexation, occupation and terror.

Organisational and administrative map by the transport publishing company of Stuttgart, 1943

The ‘Gaue’ (districts) were the regional administrative units of the NSDAP (Nazi party). The Gau of Westmark (named Saar-Palatinate until 1940) was initially formed from the Palatinate area. After the referendum in 1935, the Saar region was also included, and Lorraine was added, de facto, from 1940.

“1,600 Refugees from southern France in Karlsruhe”, 10.7.1940

After the victory in June 1940, the Jewish population from Lorraine, Alsace, and Luxemburg were expelled to southern France. Moreover, German citizens from those areas were brought back into the Reich. Some of these had been labelled as “enemy foreigners” by the French government at the beginning of the war and had subsequently been imprisoned in camps, including Gurs. The Nazi newspaper Der Führer emphasised the “inhumane treatment” of people in French custody who were now “rescued by the German SS”. The newspaper had a circulation of over 80,000 copies in Karlsruhe. The editor was the Baden Gauleiter (district leader), Robert Wagner, who would initiate the deportation to Gurs a few months later.

Shortly before the deportation to Gurs, the police officers involved received detailed instructions. Evidently, there was a fear that the arrests would lead to physical assaults. Therefore, instructions were given for the Jews to be treated “correctly”. Also specified was the manner in which the officers were to secure the assets left behind by the deported persons. In this way, the Nazi regime wanted to ensure that the plunder would go in its entirety to the German state. However, since there were always irregularities present in the Gau of Westmark, from May 1941, the Reich finance administration was assigned to all future deportations that included the dispossession of property.<br />
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Secret instructions for the officials deployed in the deportation / 21.10.1940 — Shortly before the deportation to Gurs, the police officers involved received detailed instructions. Evidently, there was a fear that the arrests would lead to physical assaults. Therefore, instructions were given for the Jews to be treated “correctly”. Also specified was the manner in which the officers were to secure the assets left behind by the deported persons. In this way, the Nazi regime wanted to ensure that the plunder would go in its entirety to the German state. However, since there were always irregularities present in the Gau of Westmark, from May 1941, the Reich finance administration was assigned to all future deportations that included the dispossession of property.

Secret instructions for the officials deployed in the deportation / 21.10.1940

Secret instructions for the officials deployed in the deportation / 21.10.1940

Drawing by Helmut Friedrich Fröhner

The Wehrmacht’s expeditions of conquest were a source of excitement for many Germans. They quickly found their way into lesson plans and schoolbooks and inspired the imaginations of children – here we see a drawing by the eight-year-old pupil from Stuttgart, Helmut Friedrich Fröhner.