Oradour-sur-Glane
Trip Start
Aug 10, 2008
1
3
14
Trip End
Aug 31, 2008
Oradour-sur-Glane,
Limousin,
France
Thursday, August 14, 2008
The Nazi soldiers rounded up all of the town's inhabitants and told them to go to the town square. They separated the men from the women and children, who were taken to the church to wait for the men. Then the men were told that the Nazis were there to look for illegal weapons. Knowing that they had none, they did not resist and led the Nazis through the town to inspect their homes and businesses. They hoped that by complying, the soldiers would leave in peace. At a pre-arranged signal, the Nazis opened fire on the small groups of men. Then they detonnated a bomb inside the church and opened fire with machine guns. Only one woman and four men escaped and managed to survive. The number of children killed was disproportionately high because the children from neighbouring villages attended school at Oradour.
After the massacre, the Nazi soldiers raided the town of any valuables and set it ablaze. The ruins were discovered several days later, the bodies were recovered and buried, but the ruins of the houses remained. The town has been left in its state of ruin as a memorial to the over 600 people who perished that day. As you walk through the town, there are eerie remnants of happy village life... bicycles, cars, sewing machines, pots and pans, cafe tables, bed frames... all burnt to cinders with only the metal skeletons intact. It is a true ghost town. Of all the sites that I have visited, this one was by far the most eerie.
