Oradour sur Glane

village martyr de la seconde guerre mondiale

Oradour sur Glane

10 June 1944. The peaceful and dynamic village of Oradour sur Glane was about to experience its darkest day, a day of horror. In the early afternoon, at around 2pm, more than 200 German soldiers from the ‘Das Reich’ division surrounded the village and rounded up its inhabitants. Then everything came to a head. In just a few minutes, the men, women and children were shot and burnt. In all, this horrific massacre claimed 642 victims.

Since 1946, the ruins of the village of Oradour sur Glane have been listed as a Historic Monument. In what was once a place of suffering and martyrdom, numerous signs invite visitors to pay their respects.

A Remembrance Centre was inaugurated in 1999. It is an interpretation facility with an educational and militant vocation, inviting universal reflection on peace.

The Centre de la Mémoire and the martyred village are open to visitors all year round (closed from 15 December to 31 January), 7 days a week, from 9am to 7pm.

Some of our guests visit it on their way home or on their way out – Distance from La Barde: 2 heures 20

A place of peace, of remembrance, of reflection on our past mistakes and on humanity, Oradour sur Glane is anchored in the national consciousness and even today among a much wider section of the world’s population. That’s what you notice when you walk through the village gates; visitors from all over the world choose Oradour to pay homage to a France wounded by the German occupation, to the innocent civilian victims of that war.

The martyred village is terrifying. The Centre de la Mémoire is just as terrifying in its texts, images and videos projected along the route, of this horrifying timeline that led to the massacre of 10 June 1944.