Centre de la Mémoire d'Oradour-sur-Glane

The center of memory is located in Oradour sur Glane, 20 kilometers West from Limoges.This small village of Haute-Vienne is famous in the whole world as it preserved the vestiges of the tragedy which occurred on June 10th, 1944 when a unit of the SS das Reich division slaughtered 642 inhabitants, men, women and children.

Classified as a historic monument just after the Second World War, the ruins of the martyred village are now visited by an amount of 300,000 people every year.But could the only ruins continue to immortalize a message of remembrance and peace ? Starting from its inauguration on July of 1999, the center of memory constitutes an access to the ruins of the martyred village. It stands as a cultural equipment of "interpretation": a story being told with all the information needed to understand the tragedy.

The documentary collection of the center of memory has been constituted by archives, books, pictures, movies and documentary files about the story of Oradour sur Glane or the Second World War, the role of memory nowadays, contemporary wars and massacres.It gathers documents used to write down the narrative of the tragedy and set up the permanent exhibition. The documentation center is also consulted to do some research on the occasion of the various exhibitions. Finally, it acts the role of resources center for the educational department

Archives :

• Ancient newspapers but also copies of archives gathered from various centers to elaborate the permanent exhibition such as the minutes of the Bordeaux trial.
• Microfilms of German archives showing the das Reich road.
• Private collections: diary of a survivor, diary of a primary school teacher of Oradour before June 10th, 1944; personal effects from the Second World War such as medals, dolls, weapons...

Iconography :

1500 pictures : Photos and postcards of Oradour before 1944, a ‘ruins’ collection from 1944 to our days, pictures of the Bordeaux trial, the temporary village and the new Oradour. Reproductions of photographs about the Second World War gathered from different picture libraries, pictures of the center of memory, its exhibitions and other events are also available. Files about the story of Oradour (old films of archives, interviews, documentaries, TV programs) as well as general videos on the Second World War, educational videos and CD-Roms.

Books and periodicals : 1500 books from prewar times to nowadays on the Second World War with a predominance of university works. Second-hand books on the Second World War are also periodically acquired.

Documentary files : Documentary files on contemporary wars are constituted as well as files concerning the issue of ‘remembrance’