The men, aged between 18 and 33, were mainly farmers and students. They hailed from Ballersdorf and from surrounding towns and villages. Carrying a small number of firearms, they were intent on making their way to Switzerland, as other groups of conscription evaders had done in previous days. This had led to a crackdown on escape attempts by the German authorities, with border guards quite prepared to shoot anyone trying to cross the border illegally.
Guided only by the light of the moon, the men cut across fields, avoiding main roads and villages. Around midnight, they arrived close to Seppois-le-Bas, just four kilometres from the border. Suddenly, there were screams. The group had been discovered by a patrol of German border guards. Shooting ensued, killing three of the Alsatians, and seriously wounding a German, who succumbed to his injuries the next day.
A phase of Germanisation and Nazification ensued in the annexed areas: German was made the official language, teachers were ‘re-educated’ or replaced by German staff, and all traces of France, from monuments to street names and family names, were erased.
The Alsatians who entered Switzerland on the north-west border were first taken to reception and transit camps, particularly those in militarily-controlled Büren an der Aare (canton of Bern) and Büsserach (canton of Solothurn), where they underwent medical examinations and were questioned by police. They were then notified of the official decision regarding admission and internment in Switzerland, before being placed in labour camps, on farms or with relatives depending on their physical state and financial means. The work in the camps involved tasks such as clearing fallow land, extracting peat (like in Tramelan in the Bernese Jura), building roads, and carrying out groundwork along the Rhône (as in Visp). Under the Hague Convention, deserters from the Wehrmacht were interned in military camps.
A labour camp was set up in Cossonay (canton of Vaud) for academics, with 120 French internees – half of whom were from Alsace. The idea for this camp had been proposed by Father Keller, the chaplain in the internment camps. Between July 1943 and July 1944, escapees with a secondary school leaving certificate and those who were already attending university, could continue their studies there. In the mornings they helped with land-clearance and drainage work on sites in the north of the town. The afternoons were dedicated to study, which was led by a number of internees, occasionally supported by renowned professors from the University of Lausanne. The camp was officially closed on 14 July 1944 due to many internees attempting escape to Savoie with a view to France’s liberation following the Normandy landings. The internees were then transferred to the Zweidlen camp (canton of Zurich), just one kilometre from the German border: a radical measure, but one which failed to put a stop to the escape attempts.
The D-Day landings on 6 June 1944 gave the GMA an additional boost. Commandant Georges and his secret general staff in Switzerland managed to recruit between 1,800 and 2,000 men, including 200 Wehrmacht deserters. These soldiers were found with the aid of lists, mainly compiled by Father Keller. As camp chaplain, Keller was able to move around freely and had decided of his own accord to collect information, which was used to locate men in 86 camps and in the homes of many individuals throughout Switzerland.
The recruitment of troops and their potential repatriation were negotiated with the Swiss authorities. Throughout the war, Switzerland was careful to maintain relations with the French authorities, while avoiding any action that could be construed as provocation by Nazi Germany. When it became clear that the Nazis were going to lose the war, the Swiss authorities adopted a pragmatic policy towards free France.
The original goal of GMA Suisse was to support the Allies by intervening behind the enemy line between the Vosges and the Swiss border. However, the difficulties encountered in the weapons and equipment airdrops in the Vosges, and the significance of the region to the German military authorities meant its mission had to be modified. GMA Suisse was integrated into the French 1st Army under General de Lattre de Tassigny, whose units had landed in Provence and were marching up the Rhône Valley.
In early September 1944, the GMA Suisse recruits received their mission order. The French consulate in Basel provided them with a sack of supplies, equipment and a transportation certificate, which they could use to reach a meeting point on the Swiss Federal Railway. An agreement was made with the Swiss authorities that they would accept voluntary repatriation requests from French internees and would initiate the administrative procedure for their departures.
The first transfer took place on 21 September, with 200 recruits transported to a camp at Col-des-Roches close to Le Locle (canton of Neuchâtel) by the Swiss Army. From there, they were taken in a French military truck to Ornans in the French department of Doubs and then on to the Valdahon Camp, where they were trained and equipped.
Within the 1st Army, the battalions of GMA Suisse took part in fighting in November 1944 along the Swiss border, a region from which many of them originally hailed. Among them was René Grienenberger, the only survivor from the group who had tried to escape from Ballersdorf.
Leave a Reply