Beginning in October 1942 , young Alsatian and Lorrainian men were inducted into the German armed forces . Sometimes they were known as the , which could be translated into English as " against our will " . A small minority , however , volunteered , notably the author of '' The Forgotten Soldier '' , known by the pseudonym Guy Sajer . Ultimately , 100,000 Alsatians and 30,000 Mosellans were enrolled , many of them to fight on the Eastern Front against the Soviet Red Army . Most of those who survived the war were interned in Tambov in Russia in 1945 . Many others fought in Normandy against the Allies as the of the 2nd SS Panzer Division Das Reich , some of which were involved in the Oradour sur Glane and Tulle war crimes
Tulle
Tulle massacre
Alsace-Lorraine