Skip to content
History–Tours
194410 June 1944 · Oradour-sur-Glane, Haute-Vienne

Oradour-sur-Glane massacre

Burnt-out ruined houses lining the street of the preserved martyr village of Oradour-sur-Glane
Photo: Thérèse Gaigé. CC0, via Wikimedia Commons

Four days after D-Day, a company of the Waffen-SS Das Reich division surrounded the village of Oradour-sur-Glane, shot the men in barns and set fire to the church where the women and children had been locked. 643 people were killed. After the war General de Gaulle ordered the ruins kept untouched as a memorial, and a new village was built nearby.

Sites

  1. Site 1: Martyr village of Oradour-sur-GlaneBurnt-out houses, rusting cars, tram lines and the ruined church.Map ↗
  2. Site 2: Centre de la mémoireMuseum at the entrance explaining the massacre and its aftermath.Map ↗

Guides who take you there

History-only · order never for sale
We haven't found an independent history guide for this yet. Guide here? Tell us about your tours.

Also in Dordogne and the Vézère Valley

More from the Second World War

Read more: reference. Summary written by History-Tours.com.