Oradour-sur-Glane

Oradour-sur-Glane (French pronunciation: [ɔʁaduʁ syʁ ɡlan]; Occitan: Orador de Glana) is a commune in the Haute-Vienne department, Nouvelle-Aquitaine, west central France, as well as the name of the main village within the commune.

Oradour-sur-Glane Orador de Glana (Occitan)
Commune
Oradour-sur-Glane Town Hall
Coat of arms
Location of Oradour-sur-Glane
Oradour-sur-Glane Oradour-sur-Glane
Coordinates: 45°55′58″N 1°01′57″E
Country	France
Region	Nouvelle-Aquitaine
Department	Haute-Vienne
Arrondissement	Rochechouart
Canton	Saint-Junien
Government
• Mayor (2020–2026)	Philippe Lacroix
Area 1	38.16 km2 (14.73 sq mi)
Population  (2021)	2,500
• Density	66/km2 (170/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+01:00 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+02:00 (CEST)
INSEE/Postal code	87110 /87520
Elevation	227–312 m (745–1,024 ft) (avg. 285 m or 935 ft)
1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km2 (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.

History

Before World War II, Oradour-sur-Glane was a quiet, rural community. The original village was destroyed on 10 June 1944, four days after D-Day, when 643 of its inhabitants, including 247 children, were massacred by a company of troops belonging to the 2nd SS Panzer Division Das Reich, a Waffen-SS unit of the military forces of Nazi Germany in World War II. There were only six survivors of the massacre. SS Sturmbannführer Adolf Diekmann, the commanding officer of the Der Führer regiment of the Das Reich division had wanted to destroy another French town, Oradour-sur-Vayres, whose people were said to be providing food and shelter to the maquis, but had taken a wrong turn on the road, which led him and his men to Oradour-sur-Glane, whose people had never supported the maquis.

A new village was built after the war on a nearby site, but on the orders of president Charles de Gaulle, the original has been maintained as a permanent memorial. The Centre de la mémoire d'Oradour museum is located beside the historic site.

Personalities linked to the commune

• Robert Hébras (29 June 1925 – 11 February 2023) was one of the six survivors of the Oradour-sur-Glane massacre on 10 June 1944.
• Jean-Claude Peyronnet (born 1940), French politician and creator of the Centre of the Memory of Oradour-sur-Glane.
• Sébastien Puygrenier (born 1982) began his football career at US Oradour-sur-Glane where his father and his uncles had played.
• Didier Barbelivien (born 1954), French singer-songwriter, paid tribute to Oradour in his song "Les amants d'Oradour".

Geography

The municipality borders with Javerdat, Cieux, Peyrilhac, Veyrac, Saint-Victurnien and Saint-Brice-sur-Vienne.

Demographics

Historical population

Year Pop. ±% p.a. 1793 1,303 —     1800 1,191 −1.28% 1806 1,222 +0.43% 1821 1,585 +1.75% 1831 1,722 +0.83% 1836 1,740 +0.21% 1841 1,824 +0.95% 1846 1,989 +1.75% 1851 1,919 −0.71% 1856 1,952 +0.34% 1861 1,848 −1.09% 1866 1,874 +0.28% 1872 1,830 −0.40% 1876 1,903 +0.98% 1881 1,946 +0.45% 1886 1,940 −0.06% 1891 2,045 +1.06% 1896 2,030 −0.15%	Year Pop. ±% p.a. 1901 1,966 −0.64% 1906 1,972 +0.06% 1911 2,019 +0.47% 1921 1,789 −1.20% 1926 1,718 −0.81% 1931 1,601 −1.40% 1936 1,574 −0.34% 1946 1,145 −3.13% 1954 1,450 +3.00% 1962 1,540 +0.76% 1968 1,671 +1.37% 1975 1,759 +0.74% 1982 1,941 +1.42% 1990 1,998 +0.36% 1999 2,025 +0.15% 2007 2,205 +1.07% 2012 2,375 +1.50% 2017 2,473 +0.81%
Source: EHESS and INSEE

Gallery

• 
  Map showing modern and former village
• 

See also

• Lidice, Czech village destroyed by Nazi forces in 1942

Bibliography

• Farmer, Sarah. Martyred Village: Commemorating the 1944 Massacre at Oradour-sur-Glane. University of California Press, 2000.
• Fouché, Jean-Jacques. Massacre At Oradour: France, 1944; Coming To Grips With Terror, Northern Illinois University Press, 2004.
• Penaud, Guy. La "Das Reich" 2e SS Panzer Division (Parcours de la division en France, 560 pp), Éditions de La Lauze/Périgueux. ISBN 2-912032-76-8