"Ons Jongen" monument

The very first list of Pfaffenthal residents who lost their lives in World War II was drawn up in 1947. At the time, a wooden cross was erected at the entrance to the cemetery. In October 1948, on the initiative of eight craftsmen from the Pfaffenthal section of the Ons Jongen League, the cross was replaced with the monument that stands today.

The Ons Jongen League was founded in 1944 by Luxembourgers who had been forcibly conscripted into the "Reichsarbeitsdienst", the "Heimatflack" or the "Wehrmacht", and who had subsequently deserted or had initially evaded serving in Nazi Germany's armed forces at great risk to their lives. In 1945, the league had 89 sections. The monument was erected on the initiative of Eugène Kremer, a gardener from Pfaffenthal whose son had died in the war. The three granite stones – some of which came from other private burial monuments – were provided by the Ewert family in Pfaffenthal. To assemble the stones, the sculptor Eugène Beffort engaged the services of the plasterer Jean Stelmes, Bernard Howald, Tunn Ewen, and the mason Jean Monti. They were the ones who inscribed the words "Ons Jongen" on the monument.

The floral arrangements around the monument were designed by the gardener Nicolas Arrensdorf. The City of Luxembourg would eventually assume responsibility for maintaining the monument, making it an official public monument.