Header photo LPL Patriotic poster featuring Grand Duchess Charlotte with the heading Mir wölle bleiwe wat mir sin. (We want to remain what we are)
Formation of the Lëtzebuerger Patrioten Liga (LPL North)
It was against this alarming backdrop that several resistance movements started to form in Luxembourg in late 1940. They focused on spreading anti-Nazi propaganda, helping people escape, and sabotaging German operations. At first Luxembourg’s resistance was fragmented into several underground groups, each operating independently.
In November 1940 the Lëtzebuerger Patrioten Liga (LPL North) was co-founded in Clervaux by Alphonse Rodesch a retired customs agent. The LPL was an important resistance movement in Luxembourg during World War II. It was particularly active in Clervaux, a town in northern Luxembourg, and surrounding villages where resistance efforts were crucial due to its proximity to Belgium and its strategic location during the occupation.
As one of the founders of the Lëtzebuerger Patrioten Liga (LPL), Alphonse Rodesch played a crucial role in organising resistance efforts, intelligence gathering, and aiding escape networks. Before the war, Rodesch was an active member of Luxembourg’s patriotic and cultural circles, committed to preserving Luxembourg’s national identity. Therefore following the occupation, his motivation levels to resist the nazification of Luxembourg were particularly high.
The other co-founder was Josy Fellens whose focus was on intelligence gathering. Fellens obtained in 1942 critical information regarding the German plans for annexation and the forced conscription of Luxembourgers into the German military. He transported this intelligence to Brussels, where it was used to produce flyers warning the Luxembourg population about the impending policies. He was also active in helping people in danger escape over the border to Belgium. After narrowly escaping arrest by the Gestapo, Josy Fellens spent the last 2 years of the occupation in several hiding places, changing location regularly.
Propaganda at work
Fellens frequently traveled between Luxembourg and Brussels using forged documents. During these missions, he supplied the Luxembourg resistance with pamphlets and newsletters clandestinely printed in Brussels, aiming to bolster the opposition’s morale and inform the public.
The LPL also published from December 1941 an investigative, critic and satiric newspaper (also printed in Brussels, Belgium) called De freie Lötzeburger (“The free Luxembourger”), renamed in September 1942 to De freie Letzeburger (Ons Hémecht). The LPL added in the disclaimer of this newspaper – forbidden by German occupants – “Déngens Dömmy” as publisher, with domicile in the Prison “am Grond”, and printed in 57, boulevard de la Pétrusse, Luxembourg (Villa Pauly, at that time the local headquarter of the Gestapo in Luxembourg). Learn more
Pierre Schon joins the resistance
Pierre Schon joined the LPL in November 1940, the month it was formed. Twenty five years old at the time, he lived in the small village of Doennange 7 kms from Clervaux and worked on the family farm. He was LPL group leader for the line Rodesch (Luxembourg-Brussels) and worked as an intelligence liasion officer (member card of the Belgo-Luxembourg secret intelligence services OT 0193) as well as an active in the field.
The family home served as a meeting place for the LPL as well as a refuge to hide and resource political refugees before they could be moved to a safer location under a new identity.
These included fellow resistance members Raymond Petit (founder of the LPL Echternach), Gaston Wormeringer, captain from Diekirch and Léopold Betz, captain from Walferdange.
Surrounded by forests, this sleepy little village with its widely spread out stone houses, nestled between fields and farms served as an ideal cover.
However, the stakes were very high and danger was all around, with an ever present network of Nazi and VdB informants at work. Pierre Schon had to witness the arrest and death of several of his compatriots and friends between 1942 and early 1945. This must have added to his resolve to fight the enemy and rescue even more people from its clutches.
