#Monument
Vianden, home of the “Veiner Miliz”
Vianden is widely known way beyond the borders of Luxembourg because of its pristine medieval castle that ranks among the top castles in the world. However, fewer people may know that during WWII, after the initial liberation of Luxembourg in mid-September 1944 by American forces, Vianden had a very active clandestine armed resistance group, known as the “Veiner Miliz”.
Consisting initially of a handful of refugees and defectors from the earlier Nazi enforced conscription of young men, their group rapidly grew to 26, including three women. They were determined to defend their town, which had become a “no man’s land”, against infiltrating German patrols. Supplied with weapons from captured German stocks or the American forces, they operated a series of observation and defensive posts in and around the town, including the castle ruins.
The group also escorted American reconnaissance patrols, guarded bridges across the Our river, and collected intelligence about enemy strength in the borderlands. Their heroic stand against over 120 German aggressors on 19 November 1944, who had to retreat after several hours of guerrilla-type warfare and suffering heavy casualties, spread like wildfire all over Luxembourg and beyond.
They also reported critical intelligence to the US military authorities, particularly that gathered from many civilian hostages taken by the German forces,. These hostages had after observing a build-up of enemy troops and equipment around 10 December, but unfortunately the information was, not taken seriously enough. They were in fact the final German preparations for a surprise attack – the beginning of the Battle of the Bulge.
A few of the “Veiner Miliz” men joined American units as scouts until the end of WWII – one of them even received the “Silver Star” for a heroic action.
At the end of the Battle of the Bulge around 28 January 1945, and with the Luxembourg Ardennes having been liberated and cleared of German troops by General Patton’s Third Army units, Vianden exceptionally remained in German hands for another 2 weeks. The German forces kept a narrow strongpoint and corridor in Vianden to enable German stragglers to slip through US positions to gain the “Westwall” defense line in the borderlands. It was up to the 1255th Engineer Battalion to clear and liberate Vianden on 12 February 1945, whereas the “Rhineland campaign” had already begun on 8 February 1945. Vianden thus became the last town of the Battle of the Bulge to be liberated.