We saw another site scarred by a barbaric past. A place of innocence ravaged by the corruption of war. In 1944, during a time where Nazi resistance was striving in central France, the Nazis were desperate to bring terror to those that dared to oppose their reign. And so one afternoon, the little town of Oradour-sur-Glane, witnessed one of the worst war crimes commited on French soil. Two hundred or so SS officers surrounded the town and ordered the population on to the marker square. The men were devided into groupes and ordered into the barns. They were machine-gunned before the structures were set alight. Several hundred women and children were herded into the church, and the building was set on fire, along with the rest of the town. Only one women and 5 men survived the massacre: 642 people, including 193 children were killed. The town has been left untouched as a memorial to a once-peaceful village caught up in the brutal acts of war.
More than a hundred soldiers betrayed their own mothers that afternoon for they did not spare the children.
A brutal act. I have faith this won't ever happen again.
Flowers lay everywhere in memory of citizens that died that day. Flowers were left at the wasted barbar shop in his memory. Flowers were left at what used to be someones' home describing how special they were. Many of these flowers were fresh and it dawned on me that many of those that died still have immediate family today. This didn't happen THAT long ago. It just seemd too surreal and barbaric, that I still have trouble grasping the fact that I am just as human as those who did this. I think people learn from their mistakes. Some say that history repeats itself but really, how can we say that when we don't know what lies ahead of us. I think saying that is a bit like a self-fulfilled prophecy. Maybe I'm naive, maybe I'm ignorent, but I have faith that we are seeing more and more compassion and less apathy in the world. I hope.
After the war, Oradour-sur-Glane was rebuilt a few hundred metres from the site. The town was a depressed town, for it's past was unforgettable. It wasn't until a few years ago where they started their first community club and started having community gatherings. The village is , of course, very close-knit.
That was heart breaking.
ReplyDeleteLove the castle. What a time you are having. Lots of sad stuff too with war.Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteAmazing that it was left as it was all these years. I was just listening to a show on CBC radio about sacred places. They were getting lots of different folks ideas about what a sacred place was for them. Even though there were so many horrors there - I would say it would be a sacred place too - a burial grounds.
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