At the initiative of Prime Minister Pierre Werner, the associations of the members of the Resistance and the association of those forced to serve in the German army decided to have one common place where Luxembourg could commemorate its victims of the Second World War.

It was the idea to dedicate this monument to national solidarity.,  This was a force which enabled Luxembourgers to resist the German plans to annex Luxembourg to Nazi Germany. This made the monument acceptable to both groups of victims. For years, the two groups had been fighting each other on degrees of suffering and compensation.

The inauguration took place on 10 October 1971, the 30th anniversary of the so called ‘referendum' by which the Luxembourgers demonstrated their will to stay an independent and free country.

Inside the monument the inscription reads:

’D’Hémecht hiren Doudegen 1940-1945 (The fatherland to its dead 1940-1945).

The Jewish victims from the Second World War are not mentioned during the construction of the monument, but a Rabbi was present at the inauguration.

A special electronic memorial trail taking visitors to most of the places of interest related to the Second World War in the city of Luxembourg is available here:

https://assets.prod.app.luxembourg-city.com/data/media/e704ccec-f622-4bf9-9a98-b06ee27aa36f.pdf