We spent a very sobering morning visiting the ruins of the
village of Oradour-sur-Glane. On the 10th June 1944 two hundred SS soldiers
surrounded the village and assembled the villagers telling them that they
wanted to check their identification papers. The villagers accepted this and
had no reason to be frightened as there had been no connection with the French
resistance locally. The SS split the separated the women and children and took
them into the church. They then took the men in groups to a number of buildings
in the village and shot them. They shot the women and children in the church
and then set fire to all of the bodies and every house. The whole village was
destroyed and 642 innocent people, including 193 children, were killed and only
one woman and six men escaped the massacre. Villagers who were not in the
village at the time returned to find the horrendous result. It was decided to
keep the village as permanent memorial to those who died. The result is a time
capsule of France in the Second World War but with constant reminders of one of
the many massacres carried out by the Nazis. Burnt bicycles, cars, sewing
machines and bedsteads lay in the houses and signs told us of the spots where
people were executed.
We had a nearly 4 hour drive to get to Paray-le-Monial and there were long sections
of dual carriageway reduced to a single carriageway but, given the relatively light
traffic on French roads, the delays were not a problem. If there were similar
roadworks in England, it would have been chaos! The route gave us some lovely
views, including many pretty chateaux.
Photos: Oradour post office; Oradour garage; Burnt cars.
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