Ivy in a Dead Tree

Much has been written, over the years, about a small rural town in the Limousin region of France I recently visited.
Much of this written material I have since read, trying to make sense of what happened. Trying to get a broader, more rounded, clearer picture of what happened. Trying to...

I don't know. I wanted to weep but I was too angry. I wanted to speak, but was struck dumb.

Oradour sur Glane is the small town I visited, as I approached the place along a modern high road I glimpsed some of the stone buildings through the trees. Roofless stone buildings.

This small rural town is written in history as the scene of an atrocity committed by the Waffen SS in the closing months of the second world war. It is said, written, that on a Saturday afternoon, the 10th June 1944 to be precise, a battalion from this notorious regiment sealed off the town, then instructed all the inhabitants to assemble in the town market place for an identity check.
Once there, the identity check never took place, the women and children were taken to the town church and ordered to stay there for their own safety.
The men were split in to smaller groups and placed in various small barns and workshops in the town centre.
Once this was complete, every man, women and child was killed. Machine gunned then burned.
Once the killing was completed, every building had hand grenades thrown in and was set to fire. The entire village was destroyed.

247 women died. 205 children died. 190 men died.
A total of 642 men, women and children died in the space of a little over two hours.
A few people managed to escape the carnage. They were able to tell what happened and, following the war, a special military court was convened in Bordeaux.

Why did I want to weep but I was too angry?
To get in to the town I had to enter through a sleek modern visitors centre full of smiling tour guides with a multitude of souvenirs and mementos for sale at extortionate prices. Entry to the town itself is free, to access the visitor centre there is an admission fee.

Why did I want to speak, but was struck dumb?
I wanted to ask. Why was there no explanation of what happened on the day by the soldiers? Why it was done? Why the Waffen SS arrived, sealed off and destroyed a town and its people then left? They did arrive in villages and carry out identity checks. They did apprehend and execute men publicly when resistance activity took place, but never before had they killed the population of and destroyed, an entire town. The tour guides and staff would countenance no questions that wavered from the official line. Would not let any doubt or desire for understanding challenge the prescribed circumstance.

There is no doubt that an horrendous, barbaric, event took place in this town. There is no doubt the Waffen SS were party to it. However, for me, I want and need to know more. I want and need to understand.