Aloyse Jentges (1920 – 1944)
Aloyse Jentges was born on 25 June 1920 in Godbringen and found dead on 19 May 1944 at the age of 23 in Babinichi, in present-day Belarus. He is said to have been killed at 18:10 in the former Soviet Union. His grave now lies in the military cemetery in Vitebsk, a town on Belarus' border with Russia.
Aloyse Jentges was a forced recruit. Forced conscripts are men who are forced to serve in the military against their will. Born in 1920, Aloyse Jentges was affected by the introduction of compulsory military service by Gauleiter Simon in 1942. First, those born in 1920 and 1924 were called up, then conscription was extended to those born in 1925 and 1927.
In the same year, Aloyse Jentges received a posting order for the Reich‘s Arbeitsdienst in Kalisch, Poland, which was considered preparation for military service. In January 1943, he was transferred to the Wehrmacht in Döbeln, a village located between Leipzig and Dresden. A few days later he was transferred to the Eastern Front. Aloyse was a private, the second lowest rank in the army.
On 19 May 1944, Aloyse was killed during fighting on what is now the border between Belarus and Russia, near Babinichi.
Text: Tiziano Cassi and Lis Gillen (both 3GPS)
Sources: ANLux CR-1461, Luxemburger Wort, Images and Wehrpass from the Jentges family (Godbringen).
