The Horror of Oradour-sur-Glane

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In 2010, we stayed a few days in Availles-Limousine not far from Confolens in France. One of the visits we made was to Oradour-sur-Glane. This small French village was wiped out in a single day by a German SS regiment. This was basically in retaliation for French Resistance activity against the German army. This post would be too long if all the details were covered but information can easily be found on the web. On 10 June 1944, people from neighbouring villages and nearby farms were herded into Oradour. All roads were blocked. There were a number of additional people already in the village. There was a medical vaccination programme being run by the local doctor and in addition preparations were being made for the Feast of Corpus Christi on the following day. There were also day visitors who had come to shop or to fish in the river. The men were segregated from the women and children. The latter were taken to the church; the men were divided into six groups and locked in six different locations. At a given signal, a bomb was set off in the church. Those who survived the bombing were shot. The men were machine-gunned with the intention of causing injury not death. All seven sites were then packed with flammable material and set on fire. The houses and businesses were ransacked and also set on fire. It is believed around 644 people lost their lives that day with approximately 170 being from outlying areas. One women escaped through the window of the church nave despite having five gunshot wounds and five men escaped from a burning barn. Only one child survived, a 7-year-old boy who ran away from the school as the children were being gathered to go to the fairground. On President de Gaulle's orders the original village was left as a permanent memorial and museum; a symbol of France's suffering during German occupation. It is very sobering to walk through the ruins and to visit the cemetery. A comprehensive Visitors' Centre is situated very unobtrusively close to the village itself. I have just read a Young Adults' book 'One Day in Oradour' and this sent me in search of the few photos we took on our visit. The two things that stick in my mind are the skeletons of sewing machines and push-bikes in or near almost every house.