|
Pornichet German Military Cemetery
The German military cemetery in Pornichet (''Deutscher Soldatenfriedhof Pornichet'') is a military cemetery and memorial site related to World War II. It is located in the commune of Pornichet, in the Loire-Atlantique department of France. Overview The German military cemetery, situated near the municipal cemetery in the Saint-Sébastien district, contains 4,836 graves. The site served as a necropolis during the German occupation by the Wehrmacht. In 1945, French authorities consolidated the burials of German soldiers from the Saint-Nazaire pocket at this location. In 1955, the cemetery was designated a regional burial site for the departments of Loire-Atlantique, Vendée, Maine-et-Loire, and Deux-Sèvres, with an additional 2,200 graves transferred to the site. Among the burials is that of Karl Hotz (block 2, row 21, plaque number 649), a German officer whose death on 20 October 1941 in Nantes led to the execution of 48 hostages. To reflect the shared fate of the war dead buri ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pornichet
Pornichet (; ) is a commune in the Loire-Atlantique department in western France. Geography Location Pornichet is a coastal town of the Côte d'Amour, located ten kilometers west of the centre of Saint-Nazaire. The adjacent communes are Saint-Nazaire and La Baule-Escoublac. Physical geography The town of Pornichet is located * on the line ''sillon de Guérande'', orientated NW-SE; the town border is located on the ''Route de Guérande'', D392d, at approximately 4 km from the shore, at a place called ''Pont de Terre'' (railway junction) at the ''Quatre Vents''; * on a coastal rock belt located upfront of the ''sillon de Guérande'' (same orientation), between two rock heads, the ''Pointe du Bec'' and the ''Pointe de la Lande'' (border with Saint-Nazaire), separated of 4.25 km; * on sandy terranes part of the sand dune unit of ''Escoublac'', between the place named ''Mazy'' (border with La Baule-Escoublac) and the ''Pointe du Bec'' (length: 2 km; width: ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Loire-Atlantique
Loire-Atlantique (; Gallo language, Gallo: ''Louére-Atantique''; ; before 1957: ''Loire-Inférieure'', ) is a departments of France, department in Pays de la Loire on the west coast of France, named after the river Loire and the Atlantic Ocean. It had a population of 1,429,272 in 2019.Populations légales 2019: 44 Loire-Atlantique INSEE History Loire-Atlantique is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on March 4, 1790. Originally, it was named Loire-Inférieure, but its name was changed in March 9, 1957 to Loire-Atlantique. The area was formed from the Province of Brittany, and contains what many people still consider to be Brittany's capital, Nantes. However, during World War II, the Vichy Government set up a s ...[...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Volksbund Deutsche Kriegsgräberfürsorge
The German War Graves Commission (, ) is responsible for the maintenance and upkeep of German war graves in Europe and North Africa. Its objectives are acquisition, maintenance and care of German war graves; tending to next of kin; youth and educational work; and preservation of the memory to the sacrifices of war and despotism. Former head of the Bundeswehr Wolfgang Schneiderhan was elected President of the organisation in 2016, succeeding SPD politician Markus Meckel. The President of Germany, currently Frank-Walter Steinmeier (SPD), is the organisation's patron. Role The German War Graves Commission cares for the graves, at 832 cemeteries in 46 countries, of more than 2.7 million persons killed during World War I and World War II. The German war graves are intended to remember all groups of war dead: military personnel, those dead by aerial warfare, murdered in the Holocaust, and all other persons persecuted to death. In addition, the Volksbund maintains cemeteries and mem ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the world's countries participated, with many nations mobilising all resources in pursuit of total war. Tanks in World War II, Tanks and Air warfare of World War II, aircraft played major roles, enabling the strategic bombing of cities and delivery of the Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, first and only nuclear weapons ever used in war. World War II is the List of wars by death toll, deadliest conflict in history, causing World War II casualties, the death of 70 to 85 million people, more than half of whom were civilians. Millions died in genocides, including the Holocaust, and by massacres, starvation, and disease. After the Allied victory, Allied-occupied Germany, Germany, Allied-occupied Austria, Austria, Occupation of Japan, Japan, a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
German Military Administration In Occupied France During World War II
The Military Administration in France (; ) was an Military Administration (Nazi Germany), interim occupation authority established by Nazi Germany during World War II to administer the occupied zone in areas of northern and western French Third Republic, France. This so-called ' was established in June 1940, and renamed ' ("north zone") in November 1942, when the previously unoccupied zone in the south known as ' ("free zone") was also occupied and renamed ' ("south zone"). Its role in France was partly governed by the conditions set by the Armistice of 22 June 1940 after the success of the leading to the Battle of France, Fall of France; at the time both French and Germans thought the occupation would be temporary and last only until Britain came to terms, which was believed to be imminent. For instance, France agreed that its French prisoners of war in World War II, soldiers would remain prisoners of war until the cessation of all hostilities. The "French State" (') replace ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wehrmacht
The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the German Army (1935–1945), ''Heer'' (army), the ''Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmacht''" replaced the previously used term (''Reich Defence'') and was the manifestation of the Nazi regime's efforts to German rearmament, rearm Germany to a greater extent than the Treaty of Versailles permitted. After the Adolf Hitler's rise to power, Nazi rise to power in 1933, one of Adolf Hitler's most overt and bellicose moves was to establish the ''Wehrmacht'', a modern offensively-capable armed force, fulfilling the Nazi regime's long-term goals of regaining lost territory as well as gaining new territory and dominating its neighbours. This required the reinstatement of conscription and massive investment and Military budget, defence spending on the arms industry. The ''Wehrmacht'' formed the heart of Germany's politico-military po ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Saint-Nazaire Pocket
The Saint-Nazaire Pocket (, ) was an Atlantic pockets, Atlantic pocket that existed from August 1944 until 11 May 1945 and was formed by the withdrawal of German troops from Loire-Inférieure (now Loire-Atlantique) during the liberation of the department by the allied forces. It was centred around the port and the submarine base of Saint-Nazaire and extended to the east as far as Saint-Omer-de-Blain and from La Roche-Bernard in the north to Pornic in the south. Background After the Operation Overlord, battle of Normandy and Operation Cobra, the Allies quickly liberated the west of France during the first fortnight of August 1944 (Rennes on 6 August, Nantes on the 12th, Rezé on the 29th). Pockets of resistance however formed as German troops withdrew to the Atlantic pockets, Atlantic coastal ports of Brest, France, Brest, Lorient, Saint-Nazaire, La Rochelle and Royan. The Germans wanted to retain these strategic areas and declared them "fortresses" (). On 31 July 1944, Hitl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vendée
Vendée () is a department in the Pays de la Loire region in Western France, on the Atlantic coast. In 2019, it had a population of 685,442.Populations légales 2019: 85 Vendée INSEE Its is . History The area today called the Vendée was originally known as the ''Bas-Poitou'' and is part of the former province of Poitou. In the southeast corner, the village of[...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Maine-et-Loire
Maine-et-Loire () is a department in the Loire Valley in the Pays de la Loire region in Western France. It is named after the two rivers, Maine and the Loire. It borders Mayenne and Sarthe to the north, Loire-Atlantique to the west, Indre-et-Loire to the east, Vienne and Deux-Sèvres to the south, Vendée to the south-west, and Ille-et-Vilaine to the north-west. It also borders Ille-et-Vilaine in the north for just , France's shortest department boundary. Its prefecture is Angers; its subprefectures are Cholet, Saumur and Segré-en-Anjou Bleu. Maine-et-Loire had a population of 818,273 in 2019.Populations légales 2019: 49 Maine-et-Loire INSEE History Maine-et-Loire is one of the original 83 departments created during the[...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Deux-Sèvres
Deux-Sèvres (, Poitevin-Saintongese: ''Deùs Saevres'') is a French department. ''Deux-Sèvres'' literally means "two Sèvres": the Sèvre Nantaise and the Sèvre Niortaise are two rivers which have their sources in the department. It had a population of 374,878 in 2019.Populations légales 2019: 79 Deux-Sèvres INSEE In history and literature ''Deux-Sèvres'' was one of the 83 original ''départements'' created during the French Revolution on 4 March 1790. The land had been part of the ancient province of Poitou. Departmental borders were changed in 1973 when the inhabitants of the little ...[...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Karl Hotz
Karl Hotz (29 April 1877, Wertheim am Main, Germany – 20 October 1941, Nantes, France) was a Lt. Colonel in the German military during World War II. With the occupation of France by Nazi Germany in June 1940, Hotz became the military governor of the German military administration in Nantes. He was assassinated in Nantes by French communists on 20 October 1941, one of the first German soldiers killed by the French Resistance. His assassination led to a massive manhunt for his killers and the retaliatory execution of 48 French citizens by the Germans. Relations between the German occupiers and French officials in Nantes had been cooperative until the executions which contributed to worsening relationships between the French and their German occupiers. Early life Hotz was born in 1877 in Wertheim am Main. He became an army officer and served in Metz where he learned to speak French. He lived in Nantes from 1930 to 1933 as head of a project to build an underground canal system ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nantes
Nantes (, ; ; or ; ) is a city in the Loire-Atlantique department of France on the Loire, from the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast. The city is the List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, sixth largest in France, with a population of 320,732 in Nantes proper and a metropolitan area of nearly 1 million inhabitants (2020). With Saint-Nazaire, a seaport on the Loire estuary, Nantes forms one of the main north-western French metropolitan agglomerations. It is the administrative seat of the Loire-Atlantique Departments of France, department and the Pays de la Loire Regions of France, region, one of 18 regions of France. Nantes belongs historically and culturally to Brittany, a former Duchy of Brittany, duchy and Province of Brittany, province, and Reunification of Brittany, its omission from the modern administrative region of Brittany is controversial. Nantes was identified during classical antiquity as a port on the Loire. It was the seat of a bishopric at the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
