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The Oignies and Courrières massacre was a
The Oignies and Courrières massacre was a mass killing
Mass killing is a concept which has been proposed by genocide scholars who wish to define incidents of non-combat killing which are perpetrated by a government or a state. A mass killing is commonly defined as the killing of group members without ...
of 124 French civilians perpetrated by German forces in the mining village of Oignies
Oignies (; pcd, Ongnies) is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in the Hauts-de-France region of France.
Geography
Oignies is a former coalmining town, nowadays a light industrial town, northeast of Lens, at the junction of the D46 and t ...
and nearby town of Courrières
Courrières () is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in the Hauts-de-France region of France.
Geography
An ex-coalmining commune, now a light industrial and farming town, situated some northeast of Lens, at the junction of the D46 and D91 ...
, both in Nord-Pas de Calais
Nord-Pas-de-Calais (); pcd, Nord-Pas-Calés); is a former administrative region of France. Since 1 January 2016, it has been part of the new region Hauts-de-France. It consisted of the departments of Nord and Pas-de-Calais. Nord-Pas-de-C ...
, on 28 May 1940 amid the Battle of France
The Battle of France (french: bataille de France) (10 May – 25 June 1940), also known as the Western Campaign ('), the French Campaign (german: Frankreichfeldzug, ) and the Fall of France, was the Nazi Germany, German invasion of French Third Rep ...
. The unit responsible for the atrocity was the 487th Infantry Regiment of the 267th Infantry Division. Altoghether, it is thought a total of 500 French civilians were murdered by German forces in Nord-Pas de Calas in May 1940.
Elements of the British Expeditionary Force and French colonial forces had resisted the German advance at Oignies with some success but were overcome during the night of 27 to 28 May 1940. The historian Fabrice Virgili writes that "as soon as the German soldiers surrounded the area, executions, pillaging, and destruction followed. Eighty inhabitants, including ten women, were killed, shot for the most part,
and the village was practically destroyed." A number of women were raped. Altogether, 400 buildings were burnt at Oignies.
At nearby Courrières, 46 civilian hostages were summarily executed by German forces. 22 of these were inhabitants of the town, while the remainder were refugees caught up in the the Exodus
The Exodus (Hebrew language, Hebrew: יציאת מצרים, ''Yeẓi’at Miẓrayim'': ) is the founding myth of the Israelites whose narrative is spread over four books of the Torah (or Pentateuch, corresponding to the first five books of the ...
. A large number of buildings were also destroyed including the Church.
The victims in Oignies are commemorated by a mausoleum and a major road was renamed ''rue des 80 fusiliés''.
See also
* Vinkt massacre - massacre of Belgian civilians (26-28 May 1940) *Le Paradis massacre
The Le Paradis massacre was a World War II war crime committed by members of the 14th Company, SS Division Totenkopf, under the command of ''Hauptsturmführer'' Fritz Knöchlein. It took place on 27 May 1940, during the Battle of France, at ...
- massacre of British prisoners of war (27 May 1940)
*Wormhoudt massacre
The Wormhoudt massacre (or Wormhout massacre) was the mass murder of 81 British and French POWs by Waffen-SS soldiers from the 1st SS Division Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler during the Battle of France in May 1940.
Fighting
As part of the Brit ...
- massacre of British and French prisoners of war (28 May 1940)
References
{{coord missing, France Mass murder in 1940 History of Hauts-de-France German occupation of France during World War II War crimes of the Wehrmacht World War II massacres Massacres committed by Nazi Germany May 1940 events 1940 in France Battle of France Massacres in France