Oradour: the 80th anniversary details

    The 80th anniversary of the massacre at Oradour-sur-Glane took place on Monday, June 10th 2024.  This year the remembrance ceremony was marked by the strictest security conditions of any of the anniversaries that I have witnessed. This was mostly due to the presence of both the President of France, Emmanuel Macron and the President of Germany, Frank-Walter Steinmeier. There have been several security scares in France in recent weeks and a degree of paranoia was only to be expected. Neither President had of course been born before the massacre and so both men were paying their respects to an event that was outside their lifetimes. What was truly striking to me was that the degree of importance, security and theatre attached to the commemoration was much greater than any of the earlier events that I have witnessed (I have attended the 65th, 68th and 70th commemorations). What was also striking was that the number of witnesses allowed to watch the event was the smallest of any year and, every spectator needed security clearance. The ceremony therefore was basically an invitation only event, members of the uninvited public were excluded. The further away in time from 1944, the more restricted the participation. In 2024 there are no original survivors of the massacre left alive, the occasion now is an opportunity to remember witnesses testimony rather than hear first hand accounts from survivors.

    We were staying in our motorhome as usual and this page describes our personal experience. The build-up of the security forces began the day before, on the 9th of June, with the arrival of Gendarmes and their personally speaking to every visitor that they could find. The information that they imparted was to the effect that we would not be able to leave Oradour until the ceremony was over on the 10th June. This meant that motorhome visitors who had arrived on, or before the 9th were told that if they wished to leave, then they must do so straight away or wait until the event was over. No vehicle movement either within Oradour new town, or any attempt to leave was to be permitted. On the day itself we were not allowed into the ruins (as we did not have a pass) and were restricted as to which side of the road in the new town we could walk on. When the ceremony was over and the presidents had left, we were allowed free travel in and out of town and access to the ruins as normal.

    I am somewhat saddened by the way this anniversary commemoration has been handled due to the presence of the two presidents. The day was changed from being a public remembrance of past events into a political statement for an invited audience, with the general public being mostly excluded.