We drive directly to the memorial museum for the victims of Oradore-sur-Glane. Such a sad sad place. Here, a little over 70 years ago on the 10th of June 1944, 200 SS troups drove into the village and for no obvious reason gathered every member of the village in the village square. They took all women and chidren into the church and split up the men into groups in various venues. They then shot all of the men and set fire to the church killing all women and children. Only five men and one woman escaped. The village has since been left untouched as a memorial to the 642 individuals who lost their lives. Rusty cars, chairs and stoves are all that remain. It's a sombre scene. Incredibly surreal and deeply moving. So sad to think that atrocities still happen to this very day in our world.
The museum was good in terms of giving an overview of the rise of Nazism and providing a little detail of the events leading up to this point in the war. Millie was curious to understand some of how these sorts of things could happen.
The museum are working to put together a photograph album of all victims. At least a quarter don't even have a photo at the moment.
After this sombre scene we ate lunch then drove further south toward the Dordogne region. We stopped at Uzerche, a gorgeous old village built on rock towering over the Vezere River. The experience was all the more special for meeting up with a French man who had no English but responded to our enquiry about directions to the church by offering to take us there himself, tolerating Clare's primative grasp of the French language as we walked up the hill. Lots of fun and we got to see some lovely things.
After a cuppa in the vans we drove on to Collones-la-Rouge to take an early dinner. Today storms and summer rain broke up the day frequently but blue skies and fluffy white clouds lulled us to sleep for the night.
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