Oradour sur Glane

joolsveer

This is a small village near Limoges in France. On 10 June 1944 the entire population of men, women and children was massacred by the Waffen SS. General de Gaulle ordered that the village be preserved as it was on that day. I was there on 17 October 2014 and I found the visit very upsetting. Here are some snaps I took last Friday.



The containers to the left and right contain some bones of the victims.

This is a place I have wanted to visit for some years after reading about the march of this Waffen SS regiment from Toulouse to Normandy just after the D Day landings.

Please feel free to comment and criticise.

joolsveer

The memorial to the 192 children who were murdered.




The entrance to the village

joolsveer

I decided to use monochrome for my photos inside the village.




One of the murder sites


After the massacre the whole town and contents were doused with petrol and burned.

joolsveer

The girl's school.


The women and children were forced into the church and grenades were thrown in. They were later burned.

joolsveer

The melted bell.


A memorial to some of the victims.


The main memorial.

topazkk

Hi.

Thanks for sharing, they are haunting images. I can imagine how eerie it is to visit there. Given the subject matter I don't think you'll find many people being fickle enough to criticise though.

Brendan.

joolsveer

topazkk wrote: »

Hi.

Thanks for sharing, they are haunting images. I can imagine how eerie it is to visit there. Given the subject matter I don't think you'll find many people being fickle enough to criticise though.

Brendan.

I meant my photography rather than the subject matter. I have to say that my tears flowed more than once walking around the village. There were plenty of other people around but somehow I didn't catch them.

Tiriel

It looks like quite a place to visit with such history and sadness. The mono works really well I think.

Thanks for posting - a nice set of poignant memories.

b318isp

Yes, a very arrowing place - especially the church. I bought the book of the story of the village in the museum. Neither the pictures or the story are for the faint hearted.

LUZ

very sad, thanks for sharing your photos.

joolsveer

Thanks for taking a look LUZ. The pity is that the lives of these people were not documented before they were murdered.

DaireQuinlan

joolsveer wrote: »

The pity is that the lives of these people were not documented before they were murdered.

what a bizarre thing to say

joolsveer

DaireQuinlan wrote: »

what a bizarre thing to say

I am quite probably bizarre but let me explain myself. Back in 1944 it was probably expensive to have your photograph taken by a professional photographer and most people likely did not own cameras. As a result very few photographs exist of the people who were murdered. I am not suggesting that the SS should have taken their photos before the massacre.

I was born nine years after this atrocity so it appears more close to me in time than to many others.