On our drive down here from the Loire Valley region, we stopped at the Oradour-sur-Glane memorial. This is a trip that many French schoolchildren make, but it was the location of a tragic massacre during WW II. During the days immediately following the D-Day invasion, the Germans were trying to suppress a French civilian uprising by answering any resistance with brutal force. On June 10, for reasons unknown even after investigation, the citizens of Oradour-sur-Glance were executed - first the men, and then all the women and children. 642 lost their lives. The town was then burned to the ground. The French have kept the center of this town as it was after that day, with the buildings burnt out. A number of the residents' possessions are still there - cars, sewing machines, shop machinery. When you enter the memorial, the sign reads simply - "Remember". I personally found the place quite haunting - a town turned into a ghost in a few hours 60 years ago. The church was probably the most vivid experience, with bullet marks in the walls, and the metal shell of a baby carriage near the altar. Sophie walked through the entire village, but Marie wasn't comfortable with it after walking a little ways and went out.
As a historical site it was worth visiting, but I think even more important is the stronger emotional connection that one gets when seeing similar tragedies happening in other parts of the world today.
Sophie and Marie outside the town
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