The insanity of war: Oradour-sur-Glane (France)… a must see for humane beings

It is seldom that we – who were born and raised in America and have no connection to the military – see the aftermath of the atrocities of war. Yes, many of us have viewed the remnants of the World Trade Center in the months that followed 9/11. But future generations, and those of us who have been unable to visit New York City so far, will only see the memorial as it rises.
Even those of us who have traveled to Europe, often see only the sanitized version of ‘things’, long after they happened, long after the tears have dried and those who fell have perhaps been forgotten.


Yesterday, the New York Times reported that the Presidents of Germany and France commemorated the worst atrocity committed by the Germans – on the French people – in World War II. On June 10, 1944, Nazi panzer troops entered the tiny village of Oradour-sur-Glane, rounded-up  and massacred 642 of it’s villagers…. men, women, children… anyone who happened to be in the village that day. Only a dozen or so – only those who were not in town that day – survived.
For those of us humane beings - who need to be reminded of the horrors of war – thankfully that little village has been preserved… exactly as it was on the day of the atrocity.

Visiting the village is an eerie experience. You park on one side of the road, then cross it and enter the reception center through an underground passageway which cannot be seen from the road or from the village itself.  As you emerge from underground, you enter the village… walking up a bit of an incline… as any visitor would have. 

As you enter the village, you walk past the remnants of the burned-out shells of houses and shops. Many of the shop signs are still clearly visible. There are tables and a couple of chairs in the café. You can see a sewing machine in the tailor’s shop. There are cars parked in the streets. But everything is a hollow shell … burned out and now rusted. The trolley tracks are still there with blades of grass growing in between.  It is all so quiet, so still. Even though other tourists are walking nearby, everyone - even teenagers - speaks in hushed, reverent tones. 

After a period of time, as you walk along the streets peering here and peeking there, you become somewhat inured to the scene. ‘Oh just an old abandoned village’, you think to yourself.

Then you walk down a small incline,  towards the end of the village,  to the church. It is a simple stone edifice, not unlike other fieldstone churches in other small French villages. As you enter the church, you notice that it is empty: no pews, no religious artifacts, no remnants of the parishioners. There is nothing inside except - an alter with three sacristy windows directly behind.

But in this emptiness… in this sunlit space… it all becomes clear.  This is the place where 247 women and 205 children were massacred…. herded into the church, locked inside. Then the church was set ablaze and anyone machine-gunned down - if they tried to escape.  One woman survived. She succeeded in climbing out of a sacristy window.

But why, why did this happen… you may well ask? What could possibly be the reason for such slaughter…. such brutality, such inhumanity.

The official answer: German retribution on the French partisans because they had kidnapped a Waffen-SS command officer. The unofficial truth: The partisans of the village of Oradour-sur-Vayres had kidnapped the officer.  The order from the German high command had been to arrest 30 villagers from that village and hold them until the SS-officer was released unharmed.  But, instead, an overzealous, young German officer decided to ‘send a message’ to the partisans of Oradour-sur-Vayres. He ordered his troops to lay waste to the partisans’ village: exterminate all of the villagers and set fire to the village. But on that fateful morning, in his quest for revenge, in his haste, he entered the wrong village: Oradour -sur-Glane NOT Oradour-sur-Vayres. 

One cannot say enough about the absolute insanity and the inhumanity of war.

Photos of the village appear on my Pinterest Board. I visted the village in 2010.

http://pinterest.com/roamingeurope/france-oradour-sur-glane-limosin-region/

 

 

The Australian’s Journey

The Australian’s Journey – In the restaurant of the hotel in which I am staying, I meet an attractive, nicely-dressed English-speaking man in his early 40’s and his female companion. They are touring Europe, viewing the remnants of the WWII and the Third Reich. During our conversation, he comments on being prohibited from accessing his favorite websites on his IPAD while travelling here in Germany. (Probably porn, I think to myself.) I am a WWII history buff and we avidly discuss the places they have visited. He hands me his IPAD, showing me his high quality, color ‘then and now’ photos of Albert Speer’s works. We discuss historical facts and while providing me with ‘valuable’ reading references, he mentions the name ‘Irving’. It is only then that I realize that he is travelling ‘on the dark side’. He is a Holocaust deny-er.

To read more of this story, please visit  Slice of Life essays on the Roaming Thru Europe website:.
Link: Roaming / Slice of Life Essays

 

Where have all the flowers gone? -The crisis of German youth

Where have all the flowers gone – This essay describes the slow death of the vineyard clad-middle Rhine region.  Wine prices are low, operating costs continue to rise, and workers are hard to find. The middle age+ locals disdain change and the young people move faraway to the cities to seek educational and employment opportunities. Soon, the tunnel - from Rotterdam to Italy – which is now under construction will cause commercial river traffic to dwindle. What will become of this region?

To read more, please visit ....

Roaming thru Europe Website: Slice of Life essays

A chance is all one needs: Anne's story

Anne’s Story – The story of a 26 year old, former East German who – like many of her countrymen -  left her home to pursue a better life in the West. (Common German saying: Will the last person to leave [East Germany], please turn out the lights.) Anne’s life epitomizes the idiosyncrasies of living in Germany. Having grown up in a communist, non-sexist society, she completes her studies in Hotel Management for Women in (West) Germany, than takes a job in a major hotel in Switzerland. Trying to maintain her career / life balance, she gives up her job, moves to her life-partner’s home village and buys a small tourist hotel (7 rooms, the restaurant seats 15). The hotel/restaurant is Anne’s life. In summer, she works like crazy day and night. In winter, there is nothing to do and - sometimes - she barely makes a living. She tries to hire young West Germans - who have a work ethic similar to her own - to no avail. She is not accepted by the locals because she is a newcomer from the East (an Ossie) and, more importantly, because she is a woman… a modern one, at that.

To read the complete essay, please visit the Roaming thru Europe website. slice of life essays



Link to Anne's hotel: 'Zum Rosenhof'