Malgré-nous

'we despite ourselves', or more figuratively 'we who are forced against our will') is a term that refers to men from Alsace–Lorraine who were conscripted into the German military after the region's annexation from France during World War II.

The female term Malgré-elles is sometimes used to refer to the Alsace-Moselle women also drafted against their will into the general German war effort.

Heller and Simpson (2013) say: Forced enrollment was organized in Alsace largely because of the disappointing number of Alsatians volunteering for the SS (at most 2,000).

Some Malgré-nous deserted the Wehrmacht to join the French Resistance or escape to Switzerland, thereby running the risk of having their families sent to work or concentration camps by the Germans.

The trial caused major civil unrest in Alsace, as most of the Malgré-nous had, by definition, been forced to serve in the Waffen-SS; public pressure led to a re-examination of the convictions, ultimately resulting in a general amnesty by the French National Assembly on 19 February 1953.