Oradour-sur-Glane - A German destroyed town preserved as a monument

[MissMittens]

A somber video but one that is important, as it's one of only a handful of places left in the world that stands as a reminder of the unbridled rage carried out under Hitler's orders. We all know that Jews were singled out by Hitler, but sometimes it's easy to forget that there are other equally evil and brutal atrocities that were carried out on non-Jewish people, just because the dictator was enraged for whatever reason:

[video=youtube;mJyfZ3Svko4]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mJyfZ3Svko4[/video]

Just saw this town on World at War on Military Channel. I've been through that part of France before, and am sad that I didn't know about the town at the time.

A museum presents artifacts and stories, but couldn't compare with walking through the charred remains of this little town in the picturesque French countryside. Museums show pictures, but pictures wouldn't compare with the rare chance to see firsthand the devastation wreaked on Europe during the war.

Souviens-toi

 

[HepKitty]

Amazing. Not in a good way of course. That is something I'd like to see for myself, thank you for posting it

 

[Chas]

The SS committed the murders of Oradour sur Glane in response to Maquisard activity in the region that delayed their deployment to the Normandy sector. Interestingly, many of the troops in that particular unit were Alsatian and shared a link to a common French/German history. The village itself has been left as it was after the massacre as a monument. I plan on visiting it, someday.

Oradour was only one of many places where the Germans massacred; Russia, Poland, Czechlosovakia and Italy were obvious examples that come immediately to mind.

The worst example was the village of Lidice which was annhialated in response to the assassination of Reinhard Hyderich.