Oradour-sur-Glane, France – July, 2011
Rob and I had never heard of the little village of Oradour-sur-Glane until we visited the site during a tour from Paris to the south of France. By the time we left that afternoon, the tragic story of the town and the massacre of its people were seared indelibly into our memory.
On June 10, 1944, Nazi soldiers invaded the quiet town of Oradour-sur-Glane in the Haute-Vienne region of France. The soldiers were seeking revenge for the capture of a high ranking SS officer.
All villagers, from a baby of one-week-old to those in their nineties, and a group of six who had the misfortune to be bicycling through Oradour that morning, were ordered to report to the village square – “to have their papers checked.” A few suspicious souls hid in their homes and escaped into nearby woods. Most, however, complied. Once in the square, the citizens were accused of hiding weapons and told they would be held while soldiers searched their houses. Men were herded into barns around town. Women and children were taken into the church.