The abandoned village frozen in time with rusted cars still parked | World | News
Before the Second World War, this town was a quiet and rural community in west-central France. Life in this peaceful village located just an hour’s tram away from the city of Limoges was ordinary. People went about their daily routines, children played in the streets, and neighbours knew each other by name. During the war, the village was part of the ‘zone libre’, the southern half of France that was unoccupied until 1942, meaning it felt relatively removed from the immediate horrors of the front lines for much of the early war.
The tranquility of the rural village, however, was tragically shattered on June 10, 1944, just four days after D-Day. Waffen-SS troops descended on Oradour-sur-Glane and committed a horrific massacre. In a single day, 643 women, men, and children were killed, and the village was set ablaze. Only six people survived.
France’s deadliest civilian massacre by the German armed forces
This was the largest massacre of civilians committed in France by the Nazi armed forces. The Waffen-SS Das Reich Panzer Division descended on the village killing 643 people and burning the village to the ground.
German troops gathered the villagers in the Champ de Foire, separating men from women and children. The men were executed by machine-gun fire in various locations around the village, while women and children were locked inside the church. The SS then placed explosives and straw inside the building, setting it ablaze.
In the aftermath of the massacre, General Charles de Gaulle decreed that the ruined village would remain untouched as a permanent reminder of Nazi brutality.
Since 1999, the memory of the victims has been further honoured through the Centre de la Mémoire d’Oradour-sur-Glane, located at the entrance to the rebuilt village.
(Image: Getty)
