Robert Hébras, Last Survivor of a 1944 Massacre in France, Dies at 97

Thank you Craig. The South of France tour visits Oradour-sur-Glane, so I visited the sight last year. It’s very moving and reflective of war’s (the aggressors) brutality. Sadly it still continues.

I love that they left Oradour-sur-Glane as it was. We need to remember.

Thank you for posting the article.

The close-by town of Figeac features a private Resistance museum. It has artifacts that include a detailed map showing Nazi atrocities in numerous nearby villages and towns during that same Oradour-era. That map has statistics essential to appreciating what really happened.

One lesson that visitors take away is just how controversial Resistance activities were among the local populace. There was a difference between blowing up a train line near a major city versus taking potshots at retreating SS units as they made their way back up to Germany after Normandy. The latter act enraged the Germans so much that many towns other than Oradour suffered savage reprisals.
Ask elderly locals about the Resistance nowadays and you're likely to get mixed reactions. Some lost loved ones in those reprisals simply coz some Resistance members couldn't refrain from taking those unnecessary potshots at clearly-retreating forces.

Btw, the TV series 'Un Village Francais' does an excellent job of portraying the various grey areas of Life under Nazi occupation.
There is also a German equivalent TV series about Life in German villages. Both series should be essential-viewing for senior high school history classes.
Have to add one more title here in this context: the Russian-made masterpiece 'Come and See.' For authenticity, it gives Schindler's List a run for its money.

I am done. The end.

@gregglamarsh - hindsight is 20/20. My uncle walked across France from Normandy to Bastogne and into Germany, and saw the German atrocities first hand. He got a Purple Heart getting wounded near Normandy just after the landing. In his mind there was only one kind of German. My father flew C-47 transports dropping paratroopers into Normandy, Operation Market Garden, and others. To his dying day, there was no good German. Those “unnecessary potshots” meant fewer Germans that had to be fought. Let’s not forget that many atrocities were effected while they were “clearly retreating.” Unnecessary implies the retreating forces weren’t much of a threat. The Germans were in full retreat until they weren’t at the Battle of the Bulge. War is a nasty business where nobody wins.

Craig,

I hadn't seen this news yet, so thanks for posting. It's so nice that he lived such a long life, and was able to relate the events that occurred in Oradour to so many people. I fervently hope that his wish will come to pass, and many others will keep the memory alive after his passing.

Following my visit to Oradour, I did some research but although we know who committed the atrocity, there's some disagreement on why this happened. I suppose we'll never know.

Craig, thanks for posting this article.
We visited Oradour-sur-Glane several years ago and found it a moving experience.
It is sad that people seek to deny or minimize such atrocities. Let us hope that Mr. Hebras' witness continues to keep people from forgetting.

Oradour took place on D+4 when that one company of that Waffen SS division was trying to reach Normandy.

To be accurate there was another town aside from Oradour that went through almost a similar fate carried out by members of that Division, the town of Tulle. Those civilians taking pot shots at uniformed troops were not covered by the existing rules of war, however morally justified their behaviour might be,, ie, they had no legal protection.

Burning down villages as reprisals was part of the European way of war prior to WW2.

The film, "Come and See" is a blunt grim portrayal , "raw reality" of warfare waged ideologically on civilians.

French movies depicting life under the Occupation certain produce gray areas, I 've seen several of them.

One huge distinction is found on memorial signs in France. The early ones say "German" as in "killed by the Germans" while the later ones say "Nazi" as in " killed by the Nazis."

Yo DP,
Get off yer high horse.
Every single thing that I posted above, with the exception of TV and movie was given to me by the local driver that RS recommends: Phillippe of the 'Allo Phillippe' service.
I'm gonna go out on a limb and guess that a local would have a reasonable grasp of the topic.