The Ascq massacre was a

massacre A massacre is an event of killing people who are not engaged in hostilities or are defenseless. It is generally used to describe a targeted killing of civilians Glossary of French words and expressions in English#En masse, en masse by an armed ...

of 86 men on 1 April 1944 in Ascq,

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

, by the

Waffen-SS The (; ) was the military branch, combat branch of the Nazi Party's paramilitary ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS) organisation. Its formations included men from Nazi Germany, along with Waffen-SS foreign volunteers and conscripts, volunteers and conscr ...

during the

Second World War 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 wo ...

. The 12th SS Panzer Division Hitlerjugend set out by rail for

Normandy Normandy (; or ) is a geographical and cultural region in northwestern Europe, roughly coextensive with the historical Duchy of Normandy. Normandy comprises Normandy (administrative region), mainland Normandy (a part of France) and insular N ...

at the end of March, 1944. On 1 April, their train was approaching the gare d'Ascq, a junction where three railroads intersected, when an explosion blew the line apart, causing two cars to derail. The commander of the convoy, SS

Obersturmführer __NOTOC__ (, ; short: ''Ostuf'') was a Nazi Germany paramilitary ranks, Nazi Germany paramilitary rank that was used in several Nazi organisations, such as the Sturmabteilung, SA, Schutzstaffel, SS, National Socialist Motor Corps, NSKK and the ...

Walter Hauck, ordered troops to search and arrest all male members of the houses on both sides of the track. Altogether 70 men were shot beside the railway line, with another 16 killed in the village itself. Six more men were arrested and charged with the bomb attack after an investigation by the Gestapo; they were eventually ordered to be executed by firing squad. The Oberfeldkommandant of Lille justified the massacre, stating:

The population must know that any attack on German units or individual soldiers will be responded to by all means required by the situation. The example of Ascq must be a lesson. In the nature of things it is inevitable that innocent people will suffer when such things happen. Responsibility lies with the criminals who make such attacks.

At the end of the war, some SS men stood trial in a French Military Court at

Lille Lille (, ; ; ; ; ) is a city in the northern part of France, within French Flanders. Positioned along the Deûle river, near France's border with Belgium, it is the capital of the Hauts-de-France Regions of France, region, the Prefectures in F ...

. They were sentenced to death; later their sentences were commuted to imprisonment. The last prisoner, Walter Hauck, was released in July 1957. Hauck also instigated a similar massacre in Leskovice in May 1945. After the massacre, 60,000 workers started a strike in Lille — one of the most important demonstrations in France during World War II under German occupation. It is estimated that at least 20,000 people were present at the funerals in the village.

References

Bibliography

* Édouard Catel, ''Le Crime des nazis à Ascq'', Croix du Nord, Lille, 1944. Reedited by Société historique de Villeneuve-d'Ascq et du Mélantois (SHVAM) in 1996. * Louis Wech, ''J'accuse'', Imprimerie Boulonnais, Ascq, 1945. Reedited by SHVAM in 1996. * Jacob Louis, ''Crimes hitlériens : Ascq - Le Vercor'', Éd. Mellotte, collection "Libération" 1946. * ''Die faschistische Okkupationspolitik in Frankreich (1940- 1944) Dokumentenauswahl''. Hg. und Einl. Ludwig Nestler. Berlin: Deutscher Verlag der Wissenschaften, 1990 . * Docteur Jean-Marie Mocq ''La 12^e SS Hitlerjugend massacre Ascq, cité martyre'' (album historique), Éd. Heimdal, 1994 * Claudia Moisel, ''Frankreich und die deutschen Kriegsverbrecher: Politik und Praxis der Strafverfolgung nach dem Zweiten Weltkrieg''. Göttingen: Wallstein, 2004 . {{Authority control 1944 murders in France April 1944 in Europe Collective punishment Military history of Nord (French department) Massacres committed by Nazi Germany Massacres in France during World War II Massacres in 1944 Nazi war crimes in France

Massacre A massacre is an event of killing people who are not engaged in hostilities or are defenseless. It is generally used to describe a targeted killing of civilians Glossary of French words and expressions in English#En masse, en masse by an armed ...

Violence against men in Europe War crimes of the Waffen-SS Lille in World War II

See also

References

Bibliography