Two years in the STO in Germany

In the autumn of 1940, the Vichy regime encouraged volunteers to travel to Germany to work. At the same time, in the Nord-Pas-de-Calais region, which was administratively attached to Belgium, the Germans organised labour round-ups.

In 1942, barely 100,000 French people responded to the call, a long way off the target set by Fritz Sauckel, who was responsible for mobilising labour for the Reich. To make up the shortfall, Pierre Laval, head of the Vichy government, established the “Relève” (“Relief” programme) on 22 June 1942: for every three volunteers going to work in Germany, a French prisoner of war was released.

But this system was not enough to meet the Reich’s demands for labour. On 4 September 1942, a law instituted compulsory conscription: all men aged 18 to 50 and single women aged 21 to 35 were required to work in Germany. On 16 February 1943, the STO was established. It imposed two years of service on young men, first those born between 1920 and 1922. The initially planned deferments were soon abolished. Born in 1923, Claude Dené was among the first conscripted.

Between June 1942 and August 1943, 600,000 men were sent to Germany. Others, although required, remained in France to work on strategic projects such as the Todt line (the “Atlantic Wall”).

Gradually, however, the system began to break down, as conscripts escaped, refused, went into hiding, joined the Resistance or were recruited by companies working for the occupying forces. Young French people attempted to escape enrolment at all costs.

The toll on France was heavy: of the 600,000 conscripted by the STO, between 25,000 and 35,000 lost their lives, half of whom were shot, hanged or beheaded for acts of resistance. Some died in bombed factories, in concentration camps or from ill-treated illnesses or workplace accidents.

The STO left its mark on many lives, including those of Antoine Blondin, Georges Brassens, Raymond Devos, Michel Galabru, Alain Robbe-Grillet and François Cavanna.