Oradour sur Glane

Oradour-sur-Glane, once a peaceful and prosperous village in the Limousin, made history on 10th June 1944. On that day, 200 soldiers of the ‘Das Reich’ Division surrounded Oradour, gathered all the inhabitants together, separated the men from the women and children and drove the men into various barns and garages and the women and children into the church. They were then all killed and burnt. This terrible massacre took the lives of 642 innocent victims. Only six people escaped to tell the story. Listed as an Historic Monument in 1946, the ruins of the martyr village bear witness to this barbaric act. The Centre de la Mémoire was inaugurated on 16 July 1999 and the exhibitions leave you with much on which to reflect. The construction of the new village was completed in 1953 and today, Oradour is an active rural centre with numerous businesses, shops and associations.