One aspect of Life in occupied France
France has held a special place in my life and during several decades we have explored the Dordogne area. The terrain is mainly wooded hills and valleys with innumerable hidden caves. Not an easy place for an occupying army.
In most communities there are War Memorials but, unlike UK Memorials, they commemorate different categories of people:
Those who died fighting for the country
Those who died who were members of the Resistance
Those who died or were executed
Those who were sent to Labour and Concentration Camps or as the Memorial in Sarlat says:
“deported to Nazi Camps where they met an atrocious death”
In the Dordogne, an area of France that is familiar to me, I have stumbled across four horror stories
The 2nd SS Panzer Grenadier Division “Das Reich”
One unit in particular the 2nd SS Panzer Grenadier Division “Das Reich”, better known as "Das Reich" which was mainly staffed with volunteer Waffen SS and Wolksdeutshe (in particular men from Alsace.) was responsible for most of the atrocities.
Das Reich had fought on the Eastern Front with extraordinary ferocity and comprised 20 battalions of 900 men including 570 tanks and 2700 vehicles when it arrived near Toulouse in March 1944. Das Reich was strategically located to subdue the Maquis (the Resistance) and intervene quickly in the event of landings on the Atlantic or Mediterranean coast. Before D Day, units were in 25 localities including Montauban, Caussade, Caylus, Moissac, Négrepelisse, Valence of Agen, Castelsarrasain.
Lacapelle-Biron, 21 May 1944
At dawn, elements of the Das Reich division blocked access to the village of Lacapelle Biron then forced the mayor to provide a list of all people and to call all men of the village square. The houses were then searched by soldiers looking for strong men, Jews and weapons. All the men were then assembled on the village square surrounded by an armed guard. In the late afternoon, the Germans left with all those men aged 18 to 60 loaded onto trucks. Initially this was 47 men but then the column stopped in Majoulassy, where other prisoners were added to bring the total to 118. They were all deported to the concentration camps of Dachau and Mauthausen. 24 returned.
Tulle, 7 June 1944
Shortly after the D Day landing, the German garrison of the town of Tulle was attacked by the Maquis and 40 Germans died in the fighting. The Das Reich Division left Montauban on 8 June 1944. Their arrival at Tulle forced the Maquis to evacuate the city thus German authority was restored. To avenge the death of 40 of their soldiers, the Nazis officers took reprisals on the population.
On the morning of 9 June, the raids began; about six hundred men were taken into a factory and had to wait whilst Walter, head of Gestapo in Tulle decided what action to take. By mid-afternoon, the SS took hostages in groups of ten to Souilhac and executed 99 men by hanging them on standard lamps or balconies in rue de Pont Neuf (now rue des Martyrs). They were later buried in two pits. The other hostages were sent to Limoges and 149 were sent on the death convoy to Dachau. 101 of them did not return.
Oradour sur Glane 10 June 1944
A detachment of “Das Reich” arrived at Oradour, a peaceful town near Limoges. They surrounded the town and rounded up the inhabitants, including those they had already collected from nearby farms. The residents were initially told that this was to be an identity check. The women and children were then separated from the men. The 200 or so men were split up into smaller groups and taken to various barns or warehouses around the town where soldiers set up machine guns facing them. 450 women and children were taken to the church and locked in.
Machine gunners opened fire on the men, slaughtering them in cold blood. Once the firing had ceased; the troops covered the dead and dying with wood and straw and set fire to them. At the church, soldiers detonated an explosive device amidst the terrified women and children creating absolute panic. They fired into the church through the doors and windows and threw in hand grenades, then piled in wood and straw and set light to the church. Then they looted the town burning all the buildings. Only one woman managed to escape from the church through a window but a few men escaped the slaughter at various barns and managed to hide or escape.
The SS murdered a total of 642 men women and children. Not long after this atrocity, General Charles de Gaulle visited the town and ordered that it should be preserved in its ruined state as a memorial to the murdered inhabitants.
Marsoulas, 10 June 1944
A similar but less publicised atrocity took place on in the Haute-Garonne, by other members of Das Reich. A total of 27 civilians were killed in response to the resistance firing on the SS from the village.
In early July, the 2nd SS Panzer Grenadier Division “Das Reich” arrived tin Normandy and suffered badly at Falaise.
After the war, there were two trials relating to Oradour but both were abandoned.
In most communities there are War Memorials but, unlike UK Memorials, they commemorate different categories of people:
Those who died fighting for the country
Those who died who were members of the Resistance
Those who died or were executed
Those who were sent to Labour and Concentration Camps or as the Memorial in Sarlat says:
“deported to Nazi Camps where they met an atrocious death”
In the Dordogne, an area of France that is familiar to me, I have stumbled across four horror stories
The 2nd SS Panzer Grenadier Division “Das Reich”
One unit in particular the 2nd SS Panzer Grenadier Division “Das Reich”, better known as "Das Reich" which was mainly staffed with volunteer Waffen SS and Wolksdeutshe (in particular men from Alsace.) was responsible for most of the atrocities.
Das Reich had fought on the Eastern Front with extraordinary ferocity and comprised 20 battalions of 900 men including 570 tanks and 2700 vehicles when it arrived near Toulouse in March 1944. Das Reich was strategically located to subdue the Maquis (the Resistance) and intervene quickly in the event of landings on the Atlantic or Mediterranean coast. Before D Day, units were in 25 localities including Montauban, Caussade, Caylus, Moissac, Négrepelisse, Valence of Agen, Castelsarrasain.
Lacapelle-Biron, 21 May 1944
At dawn, elements of the Das Reich division blocked access to the village of Lacapelle Biron then forced the mayor to provide a list of all people and to call all men of the village square. The houses were then searched by soldiers looking for strong men, Jews and weapons. All the men were then assembled on the village square surrounded by an armed guard. In the late afternoon, the Germans left with all those men aged 18 to 60 loaded onto trucks. Initially this was 47 men but then the column stopped in Majoulassy, where other prisoners were added to bring the total to 118. They were all deported to the concentration camps of Dachau and Mauthausen. 24 returned.
Tulle, 7 June 1944
Shortly after the D Day landing, the German garrison of the town of Tulle was attacked by the Maquis and 40 Germans died in the fighting. The Das Reich Division left Montauban on 8 June 1944. Their arrival at Tulle forced the Maquis to evacuate the city thus German authority was restored. To avenge the death of 40 of their soldiers, the Nazis officers took reprisals on the population.
On the morning of 9 June, the raids began; about six hundred men were taken into a factory and had to wait whilst Walter, head of Gestapo in Tulle decided what action to take. By mid-afternoon, the SS took hostages in groups of ten to Souilhac and executed 99 men by hanging them on standard lamps or balconies in rue de Pont Neuf (now rue des Martyrs). They were later buried in two pits. The other hostages were sent to Limoges and 149 were sent on the death convoy to Dachau. 101 of them did not return.
Oradour sur Glane 10 June 1944
A detachment of “Das Reich” arrived at Oradour, a peaceful town near Limoges. They surrounded the town and rounded up the inhabitants, including those they had already collected from nearby farms. The residents were initially told that this was to be an identity check. The women and children were then separated from the men. The 200 or so men were split up into smaller groups and taken to various barns or warehouses around the town where soldiers set up machine guns facing them. 450 women and children were taken to the church and locked in.
Machine gunners opened fire on the men, slaughtering them in cold blood. Once the firing had ceased; the troops covered the dead and dying with wood and straw and set fire to them. At the church, soldiers detonated an explosive device amidst the terrified women and children creating absolute panic. They fired into the church through the doors and windows and threw in hand grenades, then piled in wood and straw and set light to the church. Then they looted the town burning all the buildings. Only one woman managed to escape from the church through a window but a few men escaped the slaughter at various barns and managed to hide or escape.
The SS murdered a total of 642 men women and children. Not long after this atrocity, General Charles de Gaulle visited the town and ordered that it should be preserved in its ruined state as a memorial to the murdered inhabitants.
Marsoulas, 10 June 1944
A similar but less publicised atrocity took place on in the Haute-Garonne, by other members of Das Reich. A total of 27 civilians were killed in response to the resistance firing on the SS from the village.
In early July, the 2nd SS Panzer Grenadier Division “Das Reich” arrived tin Normandy and suffered badly at Falaise.
After the war, there were two trials relating to Oradour but both were abandoned.
