This was the largest massacre of the civilian population in France during the Second World War. On June 10, 1944, a battalion of the SS armored division “Das Reich”, moving from the South-West towards Normandy, where the Landing took place a few days earlier, committed the massacre of Oradour-sur-Glane, a peaceful village. located 22 km from Limoges (Haute-Vienne). The village is burned. Some 643 residents, including children, were murdered.
On the occasion of the 80th anniversary of this tragedy, Philippe Tomblaine, professor-librarian at the college of Ruelle-sur-Touvre, in the suburbs of Angoulême (Charente), has just published a comic strip relating with precise facts and recounting the years that followed, from de Gaulle’s visit in 1945 to the difficult first official commemorations, including the Bordeaux trial in 1953. Embellished with documentary pages, the work aims to be a true historical reference on this drama, especially aimed at adolescents. Philippe Tomblaine answers questions from 20 minutes.
It is not easy to release a new work on Oradour, a drama which has been widely documented. How did you approach the subject? Was the choice of a comic book quickly obvious, particularly to reach young people?
Being born in Limoges, I have always heard of Oradour. And already, as a teenager, I was surprised that there was no comic book on it, even though I understand that it is a difficult subject. This had never been done in eighty years, while there are more than 450 series or albums on the Second World War… And I thought that it was necessary not only to tell the story of June 10, 1944, but also a little before , and especially afterward.
The work is a historical fresco. You particularly focus on the days following Oradour. What were the reactions to this massacre?
The survivors and nearby residents were shocked to see what had happened. There is also the difficult approach to the village, because there are always German soldiers lurking, and the German authorities refuse for quite a long time that even rescuers can be present in Oradour. Then there are the first official reactions, such as the regional prefect who confronts the German authority to ask for access to the site, or even to carry out an investigation. I also come back to de Gaulle’s visit which is quite quick, since the war is not yet over. We then begin another process.
You show in particular how France dragged the weight of Oradour for years, particularly after the Bordeaux trial of 1953, which became an affair of state, as you write…
It is a matter of State because in this ambiguous context between justice and national reconciliation, the Assembly votes for an amnesty law at the end of the Bordeaux trial in favor of the 13 “despite us” accused. [en février 1953, 21 soldats, dont 13 Alsaciens « malgré-nous », incorporés de force au sein de l’armée allemande, sont jugés au procès de Bordeaux.] It was a shock for the inhabitants of Oradour. In Alsace, on the contrary, it is felt differently. This will give way, for several decades, to indignation and relational difficulties between the two regions. Official visits, during all this time, are very unwelcome, even prohibited. The visit of François Mitterrand in May 1982, in particular, was very tense.
You precisely recount this episode of Mitterrand’s visit in the comic strip. How is it going ?
He was one of the deputies who voted for the amnesty law, so this visit went very badly. Everyone was on edge, some residents had closed their shutters… Mitterrand flew by. It will go much better when he returns in 1994, since we have then entered the time of the duty of memory, and there is this desire to create a memory center. We have moved on, even if it is not a question of forgetting what happened in Oradour.
Let’s return to the drama: you underline the contrast which reigns before, between a certain tranquility or even carelessness in Oradour and the chaos sowed by Das Reich which goes back towards Normandy, and which has already perpetrated a first massacre in Tulle. No information was circulating about the intentions of these SS?
We must imagine that in this already troubled context of May-June 1944, the news circulated quietly, and at the local level. But not for hundreds of kilometers. Especially in Oradour, renowned for not harboring any resistance fighters. It’s a small, peaceful village that sees the apocalypse come within a few hours. The contrast is terrible. No one imagines that Das Reich received these instructions to burn a town or village – which was initially supposed to be Limoges, or even Saint-Junien, but which will be Oradour because it is easier to encircle – to annihilate the maquis and the Resistance.
There will be forty-seven survivors of the massacre. You have chosen to highlight four of them in your work…
These are the best-known, most symbolic survivors, starting with the extraordinary Robert Hébras and also Marguerite Rouffanche, the only survivor of the church. Without forgetting Camille Senon. Here are already three exceptional destinies and life paths.
Oradour-sur-Glane, June 10, 1944, published by Petit à Petit. Screenplay and documentaries: Philippe Tomblaine. Drawings: Maria Riccio, Arnaud Jouffroy, Emmanuel Cerisier. 80 pages. 19.90 euros.