Oignies and Courrières massacre
The Oignies and Courrières massacre was a mass killing of 124[1] French civilians perpetrated by German forces in the mining village of Oignies and nearby town of Courrières, both in Nord-Pas de Calais, on 28 May 1940 amid the Battle of France. The unit responsible for the atrocity was the 487th Infantry Regiment[2] of the 267th Infantry Division.[3] Altogether, it is thought a total of 500 French civilians were murdered by German forces in Nord-Pas de Calais in May 1940.[4]
Massacres
Oignies and Courrières were located in the Nord-Pas de Calais coal mining basin east of the city of Lens. The two towns were separated by the Deûle canal with Oignies on its western side and Courrières a short distance on the east. At the time, was best known in France for the huge 1906 mining disaster.
Elements of the British Expeditionary Force and colonial troops from French North Africa had resisted the German advance at Oignies with some success but were overcome by German forces during the night of 27-28 May 1940 after fierce fighting.
At Oignies, the historian Fabrice Virgili writes that "as soon as the German soldiers surrounded the area, executions, pillaging, and destruction followed. Eighty inhabitants, including ten women, were killed, shot for the most part, and the village was practically destroyed." A number of women were raped.[5] Altogether, 400 buildings were burnt at Oignies.[3][6]
At nearby Courrières, 46 civilian hostages were summarily executed by German forces.[7] 22 of these were inhabitants of the town, while the remainder were refugees caught up in the Exodus. A large number of buildings were also destroyed in reprisal attacks using incentiary grenades, including the local church. According to post-war estimates, 951 buildings were totally destroyed and 220 partially destroyed out of a pre-war total of 1,605.[7]
Commemoration
The victims in Oignies are commemorated by a mausoleum inaugurated in 1947 by the French President Vincent Auriol who also declared it a "martyr town" (ville martyre).[8] A major road was renamed rue des 80 fusiliés.[9]
At Courrières, a memorial was inaugrated in 1964.[7] The town was also awarded the Croix de Guerre with Palms in 1948.[7]
See also
- Vinkt massacre - massacre of Belgian civilians (26-28 May 1940)
- Le Paradis massacre - massacre of British prisoners of war (27 May 1940)
- Wormhoudt massacre - massacre of British and French prisoners of war (28 May 1940)
References
- ^ Le Maner, Yves (1994). "L'invasion de 1940 dans le Nord-Pas-de-Calais". Revue du Nord. 76 (306): 479. doi:10.3406/rnord.1994.4921.
- ^ Shepherd, Ben (2016). Hitler's Soldiers: The German Army in the Third Reich. New Haven: Yale University Press. p. 77. ISBN 9780300219524.
- ^ a b Leleu, Jean-Luc (2001). "La division SS-Totenkopf face à la population civile du Nord de la France en mai 1940". Revue du Nord. 342 (4): 831. doi:10.3917/rdn.342.0821.
- ^ Le Maner, Yves (1994). "L'invasion de 1940 dans le Nord-Pas-de-Calais". Revue du Nord. 76 (306): 479. doi:10.3406/rnord.1994.4921.
- ^ Virgili, Fabrice (2016). "Les viols commis par l'armée allemande en France (1940-1944)". Vingtième Siècle. Revue d'histoire. 130 (2): 103. doi:10.3917/ving.130.0103.
- ^ "A Oignies, le mythe perdu du lieutenant Keith Davenport" (in French). Le Monde. 19 October 2002. Retrieved 31 July 2021.
- ^ a b c d Stévenot, Frédéric (20 February 2021). "Courrières (Pas-de-Calais), mai 1940" (in French). Le Maitron. Retrieved 19 April 2024.
- ^ Stévenot, Frédéric. "Oignies et Courrières (Pas-de-Calais), 28 mai 1940". Les Fusillés 1940 - 1944. Le Maitron. Retrieved 19 April 2024.
- ^ "Oignies: les gardiens de la mémoire du massacre du 28 mai 1940" (in French). La Voix du Nord. 27 May 2020. Retrieved 31 July 2021.
Further reading
- Leleu, Jean-Luc (2014). "Une guerre « correcte » ? Crimes et massacres allemands à l'Ouest au printemps 1940". La guerre de 1940 : Se battre, subir, se souvenir (in French). Villeneuve-d'Ascq: Presses universitaires du Septentrion. pp. 129–142. ISBN 978-2-7574-1429-3.
{{cite book}}: no-break space character in|chapter=at position 13 (help) - Fossier, Jean-Marie (1977). Zone interdite : Nord-Pas-de-Calais. Paris: Éditions Sociales. ISBN 9782402417006.