Ruins of Oradour-sur-Glane

In the French village of Oradour-sur-Glane a unit of the 2. - SS Panzer Division "Das Reich" made such a serious crime that it became a symbol of the crimes of the Waffen-SS.

As retaliation for the kidnapping of an SS Sturmbannführer and other resistance activities, on June 10 1944, 190 men were executed. Also 245 women and 207 children were put into a church. SS Sturmbannführer Adolf Diekmann gave the orders to close the church and to set it on fire. All women and children were killed by this brutal action.

The ruins are a silence evident, while 1 km away the city is rebuilt in its original state after the war.

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Source

• Text: Kevin Prenger, Dick de Bruijne
• Photos: Anita Stargardt (1,2,3) Dick de Bruijne (4,5)