10th of June, 1944. World War II. After the murder of the Sturmbannführer Helmut Kämpfe, a Major of the Nazi Waffen-SS, the Germans troops, in revenge, entered the town of Oradour-sur-Glane and killed 642 civilians, including women and children (except the only woman survived, Marguerite Rouffanche), murdered by bombs after they were gathered in the church.
It was one of the worst massacres during the World War II; now the (ghost) village, as a permanent memorial, is exactly as it was upon its destruction, with the Mayor’s car still where it was parked in 1944.
With great indignation of the French people, all those convicted in connection to the massacre were released from prison after the trial.
The Mel Gibson movie The Patriot featured a scene where a church filled with civilians was burned by enemy troops, based on the Oradour-sur-Glane events.