June 10, 1944: The Oradour-sur-Glane Massacre

June 10, 1944: Four days after the D-Day invasion, a Nazi Waffen-SS company destroys the village of Oradour-sur-Glane, outside Limoges, in Haute-Vienne.

The Germans murdered everyone they found in the village at the time, as well as people brought in from the surrounding area. The death toll was 643, and includes people who were merely passing by in the village at the time of the SS company's arrival. It includes 17 Spanish citizens, 8 Italians, and 3 Poles.

Men were brought into barns and sheds, where they were shot in the legs and doused with gasoline before the barns were set on fire. Women and children were herded into a church that was set on fire. Those who tried to escape through the windows were machine gunned. Typical Nazi stuff. Extensive looting took place.

Also typical of the Nazis: It was a collective punishment for Resistance activity in the area, including the capture and subsequent execution of the highly-decorated Waffen SS Sturmbannführer Helmut Kämpfe.

And did the man responsible for the Massacre pay for what he did? Yes, though indirectly: Sturmbannführer Adolf Diekmann was transferred to the north of France, to participate in the attempt to stop the Allies from getting from Normandy to Paris. It didn't work: On June 29, 19 days after the Massacre, he took a British shell to the head, and was dead at age 29.

The village was never rebuilt. A completely new village was built nearby after World War II. President Charles de Gaulle ordered that the ruins of the old village be maintained as a permanent memorial and museum.

Six people escaped the massacre. Robert Hébras, 18 at the time of the massacre, became known for his activism for reconciliation between France, Germany and Austria. As of June 10, 2022, he is still alive. (UPDATE: He died on February 11, 2023, at the age of 97.)

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June 10, 1944 was a Saturday. This was also the day that Joe Nuxhall of the Cincinnati Reds, a few weeks short of his 16th birthday, became the youngest player in the history of Major League Baseball. It didn't go so well for him, as he allowed 5 runs in less than 1 full inning, and the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Cincinnati Reds, 18-0 at Crosley Field in Cincinnati. I have a separate entry for that event. 

There was 1 other game played in the major leagues that day. The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Chicago Cubs, 9-4 at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh.