Wow. That is incredibly sad and awful but also fascinating and definitely on my list to visit and understand
Yeah, as I recall, de Gaulle ordered it to be left as is. I think "I must go there" every time I watch The World at War - about every ten years. A German officer had been kidnapped, turned up dead or presumed dead, so they massacred the population. Apparently even other German officers were shocked.
I certainly didn’t think of myself as visiting a “tourist attraction” when I went to Auschwitz, anymore than I would think of a cemetery as an attraction, a pretty harrowing experience, more so when you go across the road to Birkenau. If you go there though, based yourself in Krakow and visit the Schindler Factory, definitely a worthy visit. As for Nazi structures, pop to Jersey, you’ll be falling over them and as the allies never tried taking the islands back they are all intact, mostly.
Indeed. Those who perpetrated this massacre were not your average German Fritz. They were waffen-SS who belonged to the (infamous) 2nd SS Panzerdivision « Das Reich ». They had been relocated to the South of France in May 44 to « reconstitute », after operating on the Eastern front. Those soldiers were among the most ruthless extremist nazi type (either by choice or to survive their chain of command) and were already known for their exactions on civilians, before they entered Ouradour, or France…
You can visit the KL Natzweiler-Struthof concentration camp in Alsace. Another grim place. http://www.struthof.fr/en/home/ Alsace is a wonderful region in the north-east of France with plenty of nice roads, foods and wines!
Really fantastic replies here guys so far - Thankyou hopefully others will also benefit. Once we hit a certain point I’ll collate them in post #1 for ease of reading
Oradour-sur-Glane is included in the return leg of my long awaited, twice postponed, trip to Corsica. 2022 will be the year I make it. Always wanted to go there. As above; seen first on 'World at War'. Have done the Normandy sites on a mini tour before. Doing it again next spring if I can fit it in. Major & Mrs Holts Battlefield Guide is a good starting point and excellent reference. Girlfriend's grandfather in buried near Aromanche in a war cemetery. Have researched his grave and we'll be including that. The V1 and V2 sites are worth a visit, have done those when crossing northern France before. Incredible huge slave built structures ravaged by the RAF.
WW1 not 2 but I used to take a mini cruise to Belgium from Hull at least twice a year Brexit was the final straw for that route. Loads of interesting sites and museums in Flanders. Still in easy reach from Calais but Calais is a shoite trek from up north
I have seen many of the above places over the years so perhaps this famous place instead, the Hofbrauhaus in Munich and while there get a Third Reich walking tour around the town.
North East France and Belgium. Fill yer boots. There's been tons of aggro there. I'm more of a WW1 geek, I'm not sure why. I've read loads of diaries written by soldiers in the trenches. Absolutely fascinating....
He was injured twice in WW1. The second time almost fatally. He was highly decorated for bravery (Iron Cross class 1, I think) We can only wonder how history would have panned out had he died in 1918.
We did a few sites around Ypres. There is a battlefield museum with trenches not far outside the town Zillebeke?? That really bring home how hand to hand ww1 was. Also visited a concentration camp, as I think unless people try and experience these places how can we continue to try and avoid them again.
