View of church
of Oradour circa November 1944
This photograph has been taken from in front of the Hotel
Milord, looking across the Rue Emile Desourteaux towards the Catholic Church and is said to date from late
1944 (the month of November is a bit of a guess). As can be seen, the church is
in ruins, as is the building in the foreground. Note the fallen roof of the
building that the family is sitting in front of. The relatively intact state of
preservation of the tiles, points to a destruction by fire and not explosives, as
has been claimed by various people. Note that the plaque
behind the crucifix that is there today is not present at this time. The poor quality of
photographs of Oradour taken in 1944, is easily explained by wartime shortages of
suitable equipment and chemicals for development and processing.
Compare this view with that of June 1998.
Photo taken by Chaim Kurycki & shown by permission of John
Shrimski
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© Michael Williams ... April 2007