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Oradour-sur-Glane

Visit Oradour-sur-Glane, Limousin

Oradour-sur-Glane is situated 25 kilometres north-west of Limoges, in the Limousin region of central France.

History

Oradour-sur-Glane was a village that was completely destroyed by the SS on 10th June 1944, including the muder of all 642 inhabitants (except a very few who managed to escape) and also some others who were just passing through the village.

The murders were carried out for reasons that are largely unclear, in part for retribution for the activities of the local resistance during World War 2 in part due to a confusion over the town involced, and in part due to a sadistic German army officer*. There is a very readable account of the events here.

The men of the village were all shot, and the women and children burned to death in the church, before the village was razed to the ground.

Note 1: it is perhaps relevant to note that Sturmbannführer Diekmann in charge of the massacre was apparently not following orders when he carried out this attack and proceedings were started against him by the German authorities - although never finished because he and most of his company were killed in action several days later.

Note 2: many of those involved were tried in Bordeaux in 1953. Apart from one German and one Frenchman who were both sentenced to death, the French nationals involved (many SS members were from Alsace) received sentences of 5-8 years hard labour, while the Germans involved were sentenced to 10-12 years hard labour.

Centre de la Memoire d'Oradour sur Glane

There are now two parts to the village - the original part as destroyed which is now the 'Centre de la Memoire d'Oradour sur Glane', and a new village of the same name rebuilt a short distance away.

A place to visit in quiet contemplation, the original village has been kept exactly as it was at the end of that terrible day, as a tribute and memorial to those who died.

You can still see the wrecked cars and machinery and the gutted buildings, including the church where more than 400 people lost their lives and the barns where many of the men were killed, exactly as they were left on that day.

It is hard to explain the experience of visiting Oradour. At times as you walk along the streets you could almost forget you are in a destroyed village, and expect children to come running around the corner or an elderly Frenchmen to pass on his way back from the bakers, and then you come to another of the signs reminding you that yet another building was the site of a massacre to bring you back to reality. An almost eerie and very moving experience.

The village also has a tribute to the dead and a small memorial garden inscribed with the names of all the victims in the Oradour-sur-Glane cemetery.

Suggested places to visit near Oradour-sur-Glane, France

Distances shown are direct, driving distances will be greater.

More suggestions: Bellac 21km; Confolens 29km; Saint-Germain-de-Confolens 30km; Le-Dorat 32km; Saint-Leonard-de-Noblat 37km; Verneuil-Moustiers 46km; La Souterraine 49km; Chateau de Jumilhac 49km; Nontron 53km; Abbey Saint-Sauveur de Charroux 54km; La Rochefoucauld 54km; Nanteuil-en-Vallee 55km; Marthon 58km; Thiviers 58km; Saint-Jean-de-Cole 59km;

See these places and more on a map at places near Oradour-sur-Glane

Oradour-sur-Glane tourism: sights and attractions nearby

Abbaye de Saint-Amand (Saint-Junien) - religious monument (11km) : Jardin de Liliane - remarkable garden (19km) : Abbatiale de Saint Pierre (Lesterps) - religious monument (21km) : Abbatial church de Saint Pierre (Solignac) - religious monument (27km) : Saint-Hilaire-les-Places - ville fleurie 4* (33km) : Perigord-Limousin - regional natural parc (40km) : Abbaye de la Réau (Saint-Martin-l'Ars) - religious monument (47km) : Saint-Yrieix-la-Perche - recommended detour (48km) :