Oradour-sur-Glane: On the emergence of a glocal site of memory in France

Abstract

Oradour-sur-Glane (France) is the memorial site of a massacre perpetrated by the Second SS Panzer Division Das Reich on June 10th, 1944. It preserves the memory of the 642 people slaughtered there, including 18 Spanish refugees. In 1945, the French State, led by General de Gaulle, decided to preserve the ruins of Oradour-sur- Glane. Since then, a series of commemorative processes have ensued at the site, corresponding to different temporalities. Over time, this site of national memory has been linked both with European memory discourse and with the private memory of exiled Spaniards and, consequently, with the memory of the Spanish Civil War and Francoism. In this article, I analyze the different appropriations and interpretations of the site, focusing in particular on the memory of the exiles. To do so, I will look into the initiatives undertaken between 2008 and 2014, considering both the institutions and the associations related to Oradour-sur-Glane.

Keywords

• second world war
• oradour-sur-glane
• massacre
• site of memory
• republican exile
• association of memory-message