A chilling solemn breeze sweeps thru the town,
Down empty streets where children used to play;
The crumbled buildings, many falling down,
A monument to history's darkest day.
The rusted hulks of burned out motor cars,
Discarded bicycles against a wall,
The roads that carry disused tram-line scars,
The poignant remnants of the old church hall.
No more, the children laughing in the street;
No more, the parents in their Sunday best;
No more, the echoes of jack booted feet;
Forever shall ye martyrs lay in rest.
The town will always stand as testament,
To sons and daughters France will e'er lament.
On June 10th 1944, the 2nd SS Panzer Division arrived in the French town of Oradour-Sur-Glane. They rounded up over 600 residents, and massacred them. The women and children were locked in the church, and after an initial attempt to gas them failed, the church was set ablaze. The men were ordered into barns, shot through the legs, and then set on fire. They damaged or destroyed every single building in the town. The town was never rebuilt, and stands as a living memory to this attrocity.