Plea over shock photos at French war atrocity site

The village of Oradour-sur-Glane is where 642 men, women and children were massacred by the SS in 1944.

Visitors have published dis-respectful images, ranging from smiling selfies at ruined buildings to skimpily dressed girls pouting beside burnt-out cars.

One naked man was even pictured mooning in the ruins.

Richard Jezierski, director of the Oradour memorial centre, said: “It’s difficult to understand the attitude of certain visitors.

“We have never caught anyone in the act, as it were, and we have never received any complaints from other visitors. We just see the images posted on social media.

“We keep an eye out for attitude problems as people are entering the village.

“In the museum there are cameras everywhere and our staff do a good job, but in the village itself, which is an immense site, we cannot prevent disrespectful behaviour.”

Oradour, in Haute-Vienne, was destroyed in June 1944 when a German SS regiment rounded up and machine-gunned 190 men, 247 women and 205 children before burning the village while many victims were still alive.

The ruins have been preserved ever since and are visited by around 300,000 people a year, including many groups from schools.

Taking photos is not forbidden and access is free, although all visitors pass through a reception space where they are told of the history.

There are also signs all around asking visitors to remain silent out of respect to the victims.

Mr Jezierski said: “We cannot police the entire village, so we can’t prevent people taking inappropriate photographs.

“But we do condemn it and we would like people to have more respect for the dead when visiting Oradour-sur-Glane.”

See also: Faces of French victims of Nazi atrocity

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