“Forestscape” is organized on 30 acres of land with part of the forest. – Forestscape
- An escape game provoked strong reactions in Alsace. Why ? Because it evokes the history of “Despite-Us”, these Alsatians and Mosellans incorporated by force into the German army during the Second World War.
- The goal of this immersive game? Embody these famous “Despite-Us” who try to escape from a recovery camp where they were sent after having deserted the Wehrmacht.
- “It seemed obvious to me to tell the story of my grandfather who died today and to pay tribute to him like that”, says the creator of the escape game, Fabien Gaertner, whose grandfather had been sent to the Italian front before being “taken prisoner by the Allies and finally being released in September 1945”.
” Despite U.S “. In Alsace and Moselle, this expression has a much more vivid meaning than elsewhere. For good reason, it refers to the 130,000 men who were forcibly incorporated into the armies of the Hitler Reich from 1942. A story often overlooked and which remains an open wound for many families in the region.
“Yes, it’s clearly a trauma here,” confirms the president of the Friends of the Schirmeck Memorial, Marcel Spisser, without wanting to comment on the latest controversy on the subject. It concerns this escape game installed since May 29, and until August 29, in the forest of the Vosges ski resort of Schnepfenried (Haut-Rhin).
The goal of this immersive game? Embody these famous “Despite-Us” who try to escape from a recovery camp where they were sent after having deserted the Wehrmacht. Then help them join the Resistance. “I do not want to reveal everything but they must also hide files in order to avoid reprisals to their families”, specifies François Latapye, of the theater company of Reflet.
“It seemed obvious to me to tell my grandfather’s story”
It is its director, Fabien Gaertner, who is at the origin of “Forestcape”. “It seemed obvious to me to tell the story of my grandfather who died today and to pay tribute to him like that”, recalls the person concerned, whose grandfather had been sent to the Italian front before d ‘to be “taken prisoner by the Allies and to be finally released in September 1945”.
“We relied a lot on Eugène Riedweg’s book, The Despite Us, et we have done all the research to ensure that this escape game is carried out while respecting the memory of these men. At the end, all of this is also supported by explanatory panels, ”adds the 32-year-old actor, who installed the game… on the grounds of the family chalet lent by his grandmother.
Since the opening last weekend, around thirty people, in groups of two to six have already participated. Not cooled by the attacks of certain associations for the defense of “Despite-Us”. “I am shocked and outraged […] This story is too serious to make a game of it ”, launched Claude Hérold, 65 years old and figure of“ Tambov Pilgrimage ”, who is looking for the anonymous graves of Alsatian and Moselle soldiers incorporated by force.
“I can understand that some families live it badly”
“I was also accused of negationism and of being a merchant. However, we are a non-profit association and any profits will be used for a spectacle of Alsatian tales, ”retorts Fabien Gaertner, admitting to having anticipated this“ storm ”. “This story is taboo and still concerns a lot of people in the area. Victims but also their children. “
Gérard Michel is one of them, the orphan of a father he never knew. “I do not like to judge things that I have not seen so I will go there, tempers the president of the Orphans of Father Despite-Us of Alsace-Moselle. But I can understand that some families live it badly, especially those who have not seen theirs return. In mine, six young men never returned. “
“I say it, come and specify if there are errors”, answers Fabien Gaertner again, before concluding: “I am willing to be attacked on the dimension of the game, even if I remain convinced that can learn and tell a story at the same time. We must talk about it, we all have a duty to remember. “