Oradour-sur-Glane the horror of?

Question

the 600 women and children raped and murdered and burnt in the church by the nazis in ww2 are there any of those men who took part in these atrocities still living in germany and how could they have lived with it through the years //the remains of the villiage still stands to-day

Answer 1

Well, I do believe some still alive and kicking today and unpunished !
And since this town is mention on here, It is great to tell those Anti French british idiots that Oradour sur Glane is the LIVING PROOF that the French NEVER SURRENDERED !
The government may have ran away but the French people fought to death instead of surrendering . And the atrocities made by the German's revenge still there today as a memorial.!

Answer 2

Let's be clear on the facts. The women and children were not raped.
The Das Reich SS division had been attacked by the Maquis in their journey from the south of France to join the fighting in Normandy.
On the 10th June 1944 they decided to take their revenge on the village of Oradour-sur Glane.
The village was surrounded and the men were separated from the women and children.
The women and children were imprisoned in the church.
The men were taken to various locations and shot.
An oil drum full of old tyres was taken into the church and set alight.
Most of the deaths in the church were due to asphyxiation, only two women managed to escape through a window at the back of the church. One of these was shot dead, the other survived.
One of the men who was shot also survived by hiding under the bodies of the dead.
When the Nazis had stopped killing they set fire to all the other buildings in the village which remains as a memorial to that day.
Of the total population of the village only about 10 people survived mostly because they were working in the fields or had gone elsewhere to visit friends.
The SS division was composed mainly of Germans but had othe nationalities including French.

Answer 3

I have found an article, which while not totally refuting the established wisdom surrounding these events, certainly does bare consideration. For instance there were female survivors from the church, still living when it was written, who stated they had been rescued by German soldiers. Also there is evidence that the church was actually blown up by the Maquiis, killing those inside, in an effort to discredit the Germans. As to whether any of the Germans still survive, probably a few, but not many by now. Also most of this unit were actually Alsatians, French!

Answer 4

Whilst not wanting to excuse any of the soldiers involved in that atrocity, I think that our outlook today is somewhat different than then.

The German army (as were the Allies) were fighting for something they believed in and considered the enemy as an enemy not human beings.

The history of the world is littered with stories of atrocities carried out in the name of right.

Not so many years ago the IRA were killing what we (the Brits ) considered to be innocent people but they saw as legitimate targets, but now some of those people are helping to govern.

We should remember that the British invented the concentration camp and in the past have not been above atrocities of their own.

There is no excuse for atrocities carried out during wars or internal struggles, but they still occur.