Thread by @pikerobert

On 10 June 1944, 78 years ago today, 643 lives were cut short in the small French village of Oradour-sur-Glane, near the city of Limoges. Thread 1/8 #oradour #France #Frenchhistory #oradoursurglane

The focus today should not be on the SS division responsible, but it should be on the men, women and children who lost their lives. 2/8

3/8 The women and children were killed in this church. The one survivor, Marguerite Rouffanche, watched one of her daughters shot dead, and the other fall into flames when the floor of the sacristy gave way. She was holding Marguerite’s only grandchild, baby Guy.

4/8 This is a recently discovered photograph of seventeen-year-old Madeleine Bonnet. She had been abandoned at birth but had finally found a home and job with a family who ran a shop. She managed to escape the round-up but her body was found outside the shop. She had been shot.

5/8 Robert Penot was also an orphan. He was aged twelve and he is pictured with sixteen-year-old Lucie Moreau, likewise a warden of the state. Both had found happiness at Bellevue farm, just outside the main village. Neither escaped the round-up.

6/8 This is the wedding of Marcel Joyeux and Henriette Hyvernaud. The following year they had a baby son, René. Henriette was killed trying to follow Marguerite Rouffanche out of the church window. She tried to pass her baby on, but both were killed in a volley of bullets.

7/8 Oradour-sur-Glane is visited by many thousands of people every year. If you are ever there take a moment to look at all the faces on the walls as you make your way through the underground passageway into the village. Each one is a story.

My book, Silent Village, tells many more of these stories.
More info on my pinned tweet.