# Oradour-sur-Glane - Abandoned French Village



## TK421 (Nov 3, 2013)

Hello all, long time no post.

So, this week we have been on holiday in France, and being only 2 hours away from Oradour-sur-Glane, it would be wrong not to pay it a visit.

Oradour is here:

https://maps.google.co.uk/maps?q=Oradour-sur-Glane,+France&hl=en&ll=45.928938,1.042178&spn=0.004366,0.010568&sll=52.8382,-2.327815&sspn=7.767092,21.643066&oq=orado&t=h&hnear=Oradour-sur-Glane,+Haute-Vienne,+Limousin,+France&z=17

It was the 644 villagers of this quiet French hamlet that suffered a terrible fate at the hands of the soldiers of the Der Führer Regiment of the 2nd Waffen-SS Panzer Division Das Reich on the 10th June 1944.

Upon arrival, the soldiers gathered all of the inhabitants, (the oldest was 90, the youngest 1 week old), under the guise of checking their papers for resistance fighters. To this day, it is not fully understood what possessed the commander and his troops to slaughter the entire village, however the woman and children were marched to the church, and then the men were sorted into groups, taken to various barns around the village and machine gunned, then burnt, The same fate befell the woman and children. Only 6 people survived the massacre, and only one of those was a woman. 6 unfortunate young people on a cycling holiday merely passing through Oradour were caught up in the events, wrong place, wrong time. Later in the day the superintendent on a visiting electric tramcar was shot dead when the soldiers turned the tram back, stating to the rest of the passengers 'we are letting you go, because we have slaughtered them all'. The soldiers looted the village and set all buildings alight to cover their tracks.

The French government declared the ruins a place for a permanent memorial, the village was rebuilt nearby, and today entry to the ruined village is through a modern museum.

In we go:







The church:



















































Whilst there, I bought a book about the events, and it is written by one of the survivors, Robert Hebras. He dedicates the book as follows:

*"For all those who, throughout the centuries and the world, have suffered intolerance, hate and violence at the hands of other men"*

Enough said I reckon.

Regards

Ian


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## Stealthstar79 (Nov 3, 2013)

Great report and fab pics too!
Thanks..


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## krela (Nov 3, 2013)

Interesting that. Thank you!


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## flyboys90 (Nov 3, 2013)

Superb report it brings the atrocities of war home.Thanks for sharing.


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## UrbanX (Nov 3, 2013)

Wow, never even heard of this one! Thanks for sharing!


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## Infraredd (Nov 3, 2013)

I was near here but never made it - great to see it.
After the massacre Generalfeldmarschall Erwin Rommel; General Gleiniger, German commander in Limoges; and the Vichy government protested. SS-Standartenführer Stadler felt Diekmann (the one in charge) had far exceeded his orders and began a judicial investigation. Diekmann, 29 years old, was killed in action shortly afterwards during the Battle of Normandy, and a large number of the third company, which had committed the massacre, were themselves killed in action within a few days, and the investigation was suspended.
Similar situation to My Lai in Vietnam. The Americans did nothing there either.


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## LittleOz (Nov 3, 2013)

That's a truly shocking story I'd never heard before. I think it's good that they preserved what was left of the town as a memorial to all those who died so needlessly.


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## Slammer (Nov 4, 2013)

Very similar situation to what happens in every conflict, people are pack animals and group dynamics cause them to follow the lead, it only needs one person to go over the top, the rest will follow.


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## skankypants (Nov 4, 2013)

Great to see this on here,and not been forgotten about....I would love to see this...thanks very much for posting.


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## lx_manuk (Nov 5, 2013)

Remember going to this place a few years back. It's very haunting.


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## Bones out (Nov 5, 2013)

It is a very solumn place indeed. There is no greater animal than man. 

Thanks for the share, nice composure there.......


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## TK421 (Nov 6, 2013)

Thanks for all of your comments.

cheers


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## antonymes (Nov 6, 2013)

I was inspired to write a piece of music, called Oradur-Sur-Glane after reading about this place. Would love to get over to see it myself.


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## jmcjnr (Nov 6, 2013)

As war memorials go that is the least glorious with the greatest impact. Diekmann avoided justice, but how could you punish him?
Thanks for the photos - you can nearly picture the awful scene the day after the terrible event.
At this time of the year too - Lest We Forget.


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## CuriosC (Nov 11, 2013)

Such a sad story but looks a great place to visit. Must be quite eerie.


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