On 10 June 1944, four days after D-Day, the village of Oradour-sur-Glane in Haute-Vienne in Nazi-occupied France was destroyed when 642 civilians, including non-combatant men, women, and children, were massacred by a German Waffen-SS company. The execution was retribution in the form of collective punishment for Resistance activity in the area, including the capture and subsequent execution of Sturmbannführer Helmut Kämpfe, the 3rd Battalion commander of 4th SS Panzergrenadier Regiment, and a close friend of the 1st battalion commander of the same regiment, Waffen-SS Sturmbannführer Adolf Diekmann, who an informant incorrectly claimed had been burned alive in front of an audience. Both of them were battalion commanders in the 2nd SS Panzer Division Das Reich.
World War II: Six hundred forty-three men, women and children massacred at Oradour-sur-Glane, France.
On June 10, in the year 1944, World War II: Six hundred forty-three men, women and children massacred at Oradour-sur-Glane, France. This event is recorded as a Historical Events event in the history of June 10, a notable event in this corner of history.
Key Facts
- This event took place on June 10, 1944 (AD era).
- It is categorised as a Historical Events event in recorded history.
- Referenced in 2 Wikipedia articles.
- The event is associated with a specific geographical location (see map below).
- Wikipedia source last updated on 4 May 2026.
On This Date in History
This article draws on content from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
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