Oradour-sur-Glane

Village Destroyed On 10 June 1944, When An SS Unit Killed 643 Inhabitants; Its Ruins Have Been Preserved As A National Memorial Beside The New Town · Oradour-sur-Glane, Nouvelle-Aquitaine

On the afternoon of 10 June 1944, four days after the Normandy landings, a company of the Waffen-SS Das Reich division surrounded Oradour-sur-Glane, an ordinary market village west of Limoges. The people were gathered on the fairground on the pretext of an identity check. The men were taken to barns and garages and shot; the women and children were locked in the church, which was then set on fire. In all 643 people were killed, and the village was burned. After the war the French state decided to keep the ruins exactly as they were left, and a new Oradour was built beside them. Today visitors enter through the Centre de la Mémoire, which explains the war, the occupation and the massacre, and then walk the silent main street past roofless houses, the tram lines, rusting cars, sewing machines and bicycles, the doctor's car, and the church. Signs read 'Souviens-toi', remember. The cemetery and the martyrs' memorial hold the names and the few recovered belongings. It is a place for quiet and reflection, and most people leave in silence.

Centre de la Mémoire and the ruined village, 87520 Oradour-sur-Glane, Haute-Vienne, Oradour-sur-Glane, Nouvelle-Aquitaine, France

The Centre de la Mémoire and the ruined village are open most of the year, with longer hours from spring to early autumn and shorter ones in winter; they close for a period in mid-winter, often from mid-December to the end of January, and on a few other days; confirm the current calendar before travelling. The ruins are entered through the Centre de la Mémoire. Visiting the ruins themselves has traditionally been free, while the exhibition in the centre is ticketed; confirm how access works on your date. Last entry to the centre is usually an hour or more before closing, and the ruins close at the same time as the centre, so arrive with at least two to three hours in hand. The cemetery and the martyrs' memorial sit at the far end of the ruins. On 10 June each year an official commemoration takes place in the village with families, officials and veterans, and access to parts of the site may be limited that day. The new town's shops, cafés and restaurants keep normal French village hours, with many closed on Sunday afternoon and Monday.

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