Oradour sur Glane was a village about 20k from the city of Limoges. On 10 June 1944, maybe around 800 people lived there; locals, refugees, people en passage. On this sunny Saturday afternoon about 500 soldiers of Das Reich regiment first encircled the town then sent half-tracks and a motorised column down this high street setting up light machine guns in strategic points.
They systematically gathered together on the village green all the inhabitants they could find, divided the men from the women and children, forced the latter into the church and in about five batches slaughtered all the men. The women and children were then gassed, shot and burnt to death in the church. Anyone hiding or escaping was killed, all the houses were burnt. Even five luckless cyclists on a tour were murdered in front of the tram station above. When the evening tram arrived it was halted outside Oradour and the occupants turfed off. Oddly, they were not murdered.
Some did escape - first by clearing off before the action proper started, but as soon as they saw the SS regiment arrive (particularly people who would understand its significance on past experience). The other escapees had more harrowing experiences: one boy aged eight who legged it; five men already wounded somehow got out; but from the church just one woman who lost her husband, son and two daughters (the baby she was carrying perished). In total 642 people were murdered in this extermination exercise justified as intimidating the general population of the region. That is, there was no intention to keep it secret, just make the actual victims as unidentifiable as possible.
The town remains as it was on 10 June 1944, just tidied up a bit. Many artefacts are laying round, in particular several Singer sewing machines.
The only woman to escape managed to climb to a window above the altar and drop down outside. Although hit by gunfire she hid by pulling a row of peas over herself. She was only located by workers clearing up on Sunday afternoon.
Whilst I was looking at these cars a visitor was trying to identify them. He could recognise 4 Peugeots and 4 Renaults! The streets were in fact busy with visitor on the afternoon we visited.
The visitor centre was hosting an Eichmann exposition, but we'd had enough. The displays in the centre were very detailed.
The 'martyr village' is only accessible to the public via the visitor centre, which is underground.
Outside that walled-off area is the new town of Oradour, a busy commercial centre and domatory for Limoges I guess, with no graffiti.
The extensive aire for camping cars is about 800m from the visitor centre and there was of course a fine boulangerie-patisserie on rue 10 juin 1944.
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