Visit to the Oradour village near Limoges an hour from Chris's house , he joined us for the trip. The whole village was murdered by the SS on 10 th June 1944 ; 643 inhabitants were killed in reprisal for the killing of 2 German soldiers by the Resistance earlier that week. The General who ordered the massacre was subject to a court martial, yet managed to escape after his trial and died of natural causes in his 80's . The village was large, prosperous and untouched by the war until this happened. 243 women and 205 children, the youngest 10 days old , were herded into a church with an explosive which set fire to the church. Anyone who tried to escape was machine gunned.
General de Gaulle visited after the war . The soldiers set fire to and razed the village to the ground to destroy any evidence.De Gaulle decreed nothing would be touched as a memorial to those who died.
This was the fair ground where 643 villagers were held in the hot sun for several hours whilst soldiers scoured the nearby hamlets to bring more inhabitants in. They were told it was an identity check. The mood was light hearted having received this assurance from the soldiers . The men and the women and children were separated out into various barns and the church. The village was very busy that afternoon as men had come into the village to pick up their tiny tobacco ration. The whole massacre took just 6 hours.
Mass burials of those who could not be identified were placed in a large communal grave tomb in the village cemetery
The infant school where displaced children were being taught in the village were all murdered
One of the many places where men were separated out then herded into and executed , it was systematic , methodical and cruel. 5 men survived by hiding under the pile of bodies and eventually made their escape ; soldiers killed the wounded who moved or made a sound.
Mme Bouchard says she has no idea how she scaled the wall behind the altar to escape , sheer fear she thought and survived a 10 foot drop the other side
A pram chassis on the altar
This is the window on the lower left where the only survivor escaped with her life ; women and children who had been herded into this church were suffocated from the smoke of an explosive device wheeled in or machine gunned if they tried to escape
We had lunch with Chris in a cafe in the new Oradour village and said our goodbyes.
We drove 3.5 hours north to a small aire at Saint Genouph on the edge of a quiet village in a flower growing area. La Riche.
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