Heim ins Reich (2004)

• 82%
• 2004
• Documentary
• Claude Lahr

Nazi Germany occupied the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg from 1940 to 1944, with the intention of returning the Luxembourgers to their so-called German roots. Paradoxically, this attempt to incorporate Luxembourg into the Third Reich triggered the nation's self-awareness. Using mostly unseen archive footage, the film tells the story of the clash between ideologies: the Nazi vision of a 'German' Luxembourg, colliding violently with the idea of an independent Grand Duchy. For a people who where becoming aware of their national identity, this was a huge cultural shock. The emotional backbone of the film rests on the many testimonies of the people who lived through that tragic period: those who took part in the only general strike ever organised against the Nazi occupant, those who were enlisted into the German army and were forced to fight their allies on the Russian front, those who joined the many small resistance groups dedicated to hiding, at the risk of their lives, the young Luxembourgers who managed to escape forced conscription into the Wehrmacht, and those who survived deportation into labour and concentration camps.