This is the martyred World War II village. On 10th June 1944 as the allies were advancing through northern France and more and more German units were being moved north, being fearful of a strong rear-guard action by the French resistance, the Waffen SS rounded up 642 men, women and children in this peaceful (non-resistance) town and brutally put them to death by fire and arms. The village as a whole was burned that night and bodies removed and dumped in mass graves.
The village is now an open-air memorial to the atrocity and stands as a memorial to martyred villages of WWII in general. This is a stirring visit.
Website: http://www.oradour.org/
