before invasion, 3,900 jews lived in luxembourg, many of them refugees germany , austria. on night of 10 may 1940, 1,600 of them left country. after simon introduced nuremberg laws, life became unbearable jewish population. shops, possessions , money confiscated , jewish employees fired. not allowed inside public buildings or keep pets. until 15 october 1941, further 1,500 jews left country on orders of authorities. gestapo accompanied them france , spain but, since rejected there, went on endless odyssey.
on 23 august 1941, curfew introduced jewish population , degraded second class citizens. synagogues in luxembourg city , esch-sur-alzette destroyed; ones in ettelbruck , mondorf-les-bains devastated. nazis concentrated of remaining 800 jews in old monastery of cinqfontaines(fünfbrunnen). here, deported on 7 trains 16 october 1941 17 june 1943 ghetto of litzmannstadt , concentration camps of lublin , theresienstadt, , 1943 directly extermination camp of auschwitz.
one prominent jewish survivor alfred oppenheimer, member of consistoire (similar jewish councils of occupied eastern europe). family, deported concentration camp, wife killed , auschwitz son rene gassed. alfred oppenheimer survived death camp , 1 of witnesses @ trial of adolf eichmann. returned live in luxembourg until death aged on 90, , known involvement in public education nazi regime , holocaust. prix rené oppenheimer created in memory of son.
on 17 june 1943, gustav simon announced luxembourg judenfrei. 683 deported, 43 survived.
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