Emilie Schmitz, born on 20 June 1906, was one of seven children. The family lived in Troisvierges. She ran the railway workers' cooperative, better known as the "Konsum". On 10 May 1940, the family's fate was turned upside down. After the invasion of the German troops, the family members quickly became very active in the resistance movement and fiercely opposed the German occupiers. The family home in Troisvierges was used as a hiding place for illegal immigrants, draft dodgers and a political refugee for months and even years. Emilie Schmitz takes care of them like a mother and gives them the courage to stand their ground. She does not let herself be demoralised and faces great dangers. She says many times "I have to take care of my boys" and "You have to be able to risk your life".
Visits from the German police do not intimidate Emilie Schmitz, who one day sets out on her bicycle to find an airman hiding in the forest. Dressed in a railway worker's uniform, the Canadian was accompanied home by Emilie. The long-awaited liberation finally arrives. But von Rundstedt's offensive costs the Schmitz family dearly. Thinking that the danger was over, everyone talked openly about housing the draft dodgers and airmen in the Schmitz house. Two Luxembourgers, who came to eat at the Schmitz house on several occasions, denounced the family. The Gestapo came to search the house and the police took Emilie and two of her brothers to Germany. They are separated in Frankfurt. One by one, the two brothers managed to escape and returned to Luxembourg after the Germans surrendered. But the family had no news of their daughter. After a long search, the hope of seeing her again was extinguished. Emilie was taken as a "transport" to the Hirzenhain camp. The prisoners were shot a few days before the arrival of the Americans. Emilie Schmitz lies in the cemetery for war victims in Arnsburg.
Sources:
● Speech by Lucien Schmit on 29 October 1948 at the Troisvierges cemetery on the occasion of the funeral of the great Resistance fighter Emilie Schmitz.
● Rémy: La ligne de démarcation - une saga de la résistance, Tome XVII, Librairie Académique Perrin, Paris, 1969, pp. 75-90.
● Pierre Kergen: Kriegserinnerungen eines Öslinger Resistenzlers. Mir wölle bleiwe wat mir sin, Ed. du "Rappel", Luxembourg, 2002, pp. 212-213.