Oradour-sur-Glane

[Simon Furnell]

Evening all.
One of the most horrific,incidents,ever,to show how spitefull man can be.
A pointless exercise,against people who couldn't defend themselves.
I can still remember getting angry,when i first read about this as a teenager.
The village,is a fitting memorial and very moving.
Many thanks for the photos,Bayernwald,and the link,Salient.
Will let you know,what i think.
All the best.
Simon.

[salientpoints]

Thanks for posting these. Very evocative.

ryan

[Chris Basey]

Thank you, everyone, for the information and pictures about Oradour-sur-Glane. I shall be checking the library tomorrow to see what has been written about the massacre.

I am reminded of another place that sufferred a similar fate - Vassieux-en-Vercors. We visited it some years ago and were very moved (and shocked) by the displays in the village museum. The area was controlled by the maquis who were expecting an American drop of supplies but, the planes they heard on that July night, in 1944, were German planes towing gliders fulll of troops who landed on the plateau. Very few people survived and only part of the church was left standing. The cemetery outside the village has a continous video presentation and its entrance is flanked by the remains of the gliders.

I believe that Maile was another village that suffered, too, in a series of German reprisal attacks.

The only difference between then and now is, I suppose, that such things took time to enter the public domain in 1944, whereas they are being shown on screens in our homes just minutes after the horror has been perpetrated.