Plaque in Central Station to Commemorate Luxembourg's Struggle under Nazi Occupation

On the occasion of this year's National Day of Remembrance, held annually on 18 October, a commemorative plaque will be installed in the glass roof of Luxembourg Central Station.

The National Day of Remembrance is dedicated to commemorating the struggle waged by the Luxembourgish population under Nazi occupation between 1940 and 1945.

Several ceremonies are scheduled in Luxembourg this Sunday, including the inauguration ceremony of a commemorative plaque in the central station

Upon his arrival at the entrance to the glass roof of the central station on Sunday morning, His Royal Highness the Grand Duke will join the President of the Chamber of Deputies, Fernand Etgen, Prime Minister Xavier Bettel, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence, François Bausch, and the Mayor of the City of Luxembourg, Lydie Polfer. The Chief of Staff of the Luxembourg Army, General Steve Thull, and the Director General of the Grand Ducal Police, Philippe Schrantz, will also be present.

After a speech by the Prime Minister and the President of the Committee for the Remembrance of the Second World War, Claude Wolf, the Grand Duke and Maisy Ginter-Bonichaux, who was forcibly enlisted by the Nazis, will unveil a commemorative plaque in memory of the 3,614 young Luxembourgish women who were forced by the Nazis into compulsory labour. Most of them left this train station to go to Germany. 58 forcibly recruited women died in foreign lands. The Grand Duke, Prime Minister and Maisy Ginter-Bonichaux will lay a wreath in front of this plaque.

The Grand Duke will then lay a wreath in front of the national monument of Luxembourg Solidarity (Kanounenhiwwel), before reigniting the flame of remembrance. He will be joined by Fernand Etgen, the Prime Minister, Minister François Bausch, Mayor Lydie Polfer, Gerneral Steve Thull and Philippe Schrantz at the foot of the monument. The Grand Duke will then salute the army flag as well as the president and the two vice-presidents of the Committee for the Remembrance of the Second World War.

Flower wreaths will also be laid in front of the monument in memory of victims of the Shoah. Fernand Etgen, the Prime Minister, Serge Wilmes, the first alderman of the City of Luxembourg, and Albert Aflalo, President of the Israelite Consistory of Luxembourg, will do the honours. Mr Aflalo and the Prime Minister will deliver speeches. After the wreath laying, the Chief Rabbi of Luxembourg, Alain Nacache, will say a prayer.

At the end of this ceremony, Fernand Etgen, the Prime Minister and Serge Wilmes will lay flower wreaths in front of the Memorial monument in Place de la Constitution, in the presence of General Steve Thull and Philippe Schrantz.

In the early afternoon, Prime Minister Xavier Bettel will deliver a speech at the National Monument to the Resistance and Deportation (Hinzerter Kräiz). The pastor of the Protestant Church of Luxembourg, Volker Strauß, Chief Rabbi Alain Nacache, and the Vicar General, Patrick Muller, will then proceed to the blessing of the tomb at the monument. Fernand Etgen, the Prime Minister and Serge Wilmes will conclude the ceremony with a wreath laying.