Oradour-sur-Glane

Oradour-sur-Glane (Occitan: Orador de Glana) is a commune in the Haute-Vienne department in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region in 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 (2014–2020)	Philippe Lacroix
Area ^1	38.16 km^2 (14.73 sq mi)
Population  (2017-01-01)[1]	2,473
• Density	65/km^2 (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 km^2 (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.

History

The original village was destroyed on 10 June 1944, when 642 of its inhabitants, including women and 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. A new village was built after the war on a nearby site, but on the orders of the then French 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, born on 29 June 1925 in Oradour-sur-Glane; one of the six survivors of the Oradour-sur-Glane massacre on 10 June 1944.
• Jean-Claude Peyronnet, (1940–), French politician, creator of the Centre of the Memory of Oradour-sur-Glane.
• Sébastien Puygrenier began his football career at US Oradour-sur-Glane where his father and his uncles played
• Didier Barbelivien, French singer-songwriter, pays tribute to Oradour by 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[2] and INSEE[3]

Gallery

• 
  Map showing modern and former village
• 
  Ruined village
• 

See also

• Quneitra, Syrian city destroyed by Israeli forces and left as an open-air museum
• Lidice, Czech village destroyed by Nazi forces in 1942

References

1. "Populations légales 2017". INSEE. Retrieved 6 January 2020.
2. Des villages de Cassini aux communes d'aujourd'hui: Commune data sheet Oradour-sur-Glane, EHESS. (in French)
3. Population en historique depuis 1968, INSEE

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