In her study of Oradour-sur-Glane, Martyred Village, Sarah Farmer notes the “inherent impossibility” of freezing memory by attempting to preserve the burned-out ruins, decade after decade. “Over time, rain has washed white the blackened remains of Oradour, and the jagged walls have crumbled under the impact of frost and thaw. Though workmen repair the ruins and cut back ivy and nettles, decay and new growth threaten to change Oradour from a scene of horror into a melancholy, even romantic vista. Just as memory is continually reworked and reorganized, memorial sites never stand still.” Should natural change over time--a gradual healing of ruin-- be seen as part of the memorial site? Or should the site's curators strive to preserve the original ruins as much as possible, defying nature in a call for remembrance?
References
Farmer, Sarah Bennett. Martyred Village: Commemorating the 1944 Massacre at Oradour-sur-Glane. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1999.
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Design of Oradour-sur-Glane
The victims of Oradour-sur-Glane are buried in a cemetery to the north of the village, where a tall column flanked by ossuaries memorializes the dead. Along the rear wall of the cemetery are ten black tablets inscribed with the names of the 642 people who perished. The identifiable victims were buried in family plots. The bones of the unidentified were interred in several areas, including ossuaries on either side of the main column of the memorial. These ossuaries also contain bone fragments from other execution sites in the general area.
The Centre de la Mémoire, a museum and visitors’ center for Oradour-sur-Glane, opened in May 1999. Yves Devraine, working with architects Jean-Louis Marty and Antonio Carrilero, designed and landscaped the Center, which is located near the village. Devraine designed the building to blend in with its surroundings; it was built into the side of a small valley, and a river is reflected in its glass façade. The façade is interrupted by metal blades, which symbolize the violence suffered by the villagers of Oradour.
Visitors can enter the cemetery and walk around the old village, which has been preserved as it was after its destruction in 1944. There are no guides for the village; visitors are invited to wander through the ruins and come to their own conclusions. The site is maintained through a partnership among the Conseil General, the Rector of the Academy of Limoges, and the Centre de la Mémoire.
References
Centre de la mémoire, Oradour-sur-Glane, official site.
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