Examine the past to gain insight. - Steinmeier remembers the victims of the SS atrocity in Oradour.
On June 10, 1944, SS members carried out the largest Nazi war crime in Western Europe in the French town of Oradour-sur-Glane. This atrocity, where 643 innocent lives were taken, is about to be commemorated on its 80th anniversary, with French President Emmanuel Macron and German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier coming together to honor the victims and look ahead.
The small town of Hersbruck in Bavaria aims to establish a friendship pact with Oradour-sur-Glane during this occasion. It was just a few days after the Allied landing in Normandy that the soldiers of the SS Division "Das Reich" destroyed the entire village in western France. The men were driven into barns and shot while the women and children were locked in the village church. Survivors suffered from poisonous phosphorus smoke, bullets, hand grenades, or were burnt alive. Only a select few managed to escape this horrific act, which the SS claimed was a reprisal for attacks by the growing French resistance against German occupiers.
Dealing with the perpetrators
Karin Eideloth was shocked when she discovered that her grandfather, Adolf Heinrich, was one of the approximately 150 SS men responsible for the atrocities in Oradour-sur-Glane. She has since been in touch with Agathe Hébras, the granddaughter of one of the survivors. President Steinmeier invited Eideloth to accompany him to France while Hébras received a similar invitation from President Macron. The two ladies already met in April in Oradour-sur-Glane and plan to meet again.
Eideloth's grandfather made a confession at the military tribunal in Bordeaux in 1953 for his involvement in the Oradour-sur-Glane massacre. Prior to this revelation, the family thought he had been in action in Hungary at the end of the war. Now, she knows that he not only played a role in the shooting of men in the barns, but also in the burning of women and children inside the church. "A combination of disbelief and rage" overcame her upon her realization. To this day, the horrific acts haunt Eideloth. It has made her comprehend the vast range of human behavior, including "such depths."
Five years after first learning about her grandfather's crimes, Eideloth visited Oradour-sur-Glane. She recounts her journey in 2022 as "a terrible experience." Despite having read about it previously, the gravity of the situation hit her when she was physically present. However, she found solace in the warm reception she received from the descendants of the victims. "I am infinitely thankful for this," she says, attributing her experience of warmth to their kindness and well-intention.
In 2013, Joachim Gauck, the first German President, was given a warm welcome by the people of Oradour-sur-Glane during a state visit to France. "Your invitation to the German President is a gesture of welcome, kindness, a gesture of reconciliation, a gesture that cannot be demanded, but can only be given," Gauck responded at the time, expressing his gratitude for the kindness shown to him.
Eideloth's emotional journey in dealing with her family's dark history is still ongoing, but she remains resolute. "It's crucial to engage with these things. It's the best defense against them happening again," she asserted.
