Occurring amid the

Battle of France The Battle of France (; 10 May – 25 June 1940), also known as the Western Campaign (), the French Campaign (, ) and the Fall of France, during the Second World War was the Nazi Germany, German invasion of the Low Countries (Belgium, Luxembour ...

, the Oignies and Courrières massacre involved

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 ...

s of French civilians in the two nearby town of

Oignies Oignies (; ) is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in the Hauts-de-France region of France northeast of Lens. Heraldry Population Notable people * Guy Drut, born there in 1950, Olympic track athlete. * Michel Jazy, Olympic track ...

and

Courrières Courrières () is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in the Hauts-de-France region of France about northeast of Lens. The Lens canal and the canalized river Deûle forms three quarters of the borders of the commune. Nearest communes ...

Nord-Pas de Calais Nord-Pas-de-Calais (; ; West Flemish: ''Nôord-Nauw van Kales'') was a former regions of France, administrative region of France. Since 1 January 2016, it has been part of the new Regions of France, region Hauts-de-France. It consisted of the ...

on 27–28 May 1940. The number of victims is reckoned at between 114 or 124. The unit responsible for the atrocity was the 487th Infantry Regiment of the 267th Infantry Division in the ''

Wehrmacht The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the German Army (1935–1945), ''Heer'' (army), the ''Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmac ...

''. The massacre was one of the largest to occur during the Battle of France. Altogether, it is thought a total of 500 French civilians were murdered by German forces in Nord-Pas de Calais in May 1940.

Background

In response to the

German invasion of Poland The invasion of Poland, also known as the September Campaign, Polish Campaign, and Polish Defensive War of 1939 (1 September – 6 October 1939), was a joint attack on the Second Polish Republic, Republic of Poland by Nazi Germany, the Slovak R ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

and the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

declared war on

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...

in September 1939. The Polish campaign was accompanied by widespread atrocities against civilians including numerous large-scale massacres of civilians including both ethnic Poles and Jews. After a period of relatively inaction on the Western Front, German forces launched a major offensive against France on 10 May 1940 with a simultaneous attack through neutral Belgium,

Luxembourg Luxembourg, officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, is a landlocked country in Western Europe. It is bordered by Belgium to the west and north, Germany to the east, and France on the south. Its capital and most populous city, Luxembour ...

, and

the Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

. French forces supported by the small British Expeditionary Force (BEF) surged into Northern and Central Belgium as prescribed by the

Dyle Plan Dyle may refer to: * Dyle (river), a river in central Belgium, tributary of the Rupel * Dyle, Poland, a village * Dyle plan, a French plan for defending against German invasion *Dyle (department) Dyle (, ) was a departments of France, department ...

to halt the German advance. Although fighting some successful engagements, they were soon outflanked as a result of an unexpected German breakthrough to the south and forced to retreat westerwards back into France. As early as 21 May, German forces reached the North Sea coast near

Abbeville Abbeville (; ; ) is a commune in the Somme department and in Hauts-de-France region in northern France. It is the of one of the arrondissements of Somme. Located on the river Somme, it was the capital of Ponthieu. Geography Location A ...

cutting off a large proportion of French, British, and Belgian forces in a shrinking

pocket A pocket is a bag- or envelope-like receptacle either fastened to or inserted in an article of clothing to hold small items. Pockets are also attached to luggage, backpacks, and similar items. In older usage, a pocket was a separate small bag o ...

along the coast. On the southern side of the pocket, German forces began to push north-eastwards towards the major city of

Lille Lille (, ; ; ; ; ) is a city in the northern part of France, within French Flanders. Positioned along the Deûle river, near France's border with Belgium, it is the capital of the Hauts-de-France Regions of France, region, the Prefectures in F ...

through the region around the towns of

Arras Arras ( , ; ; historical ) is the prefecture of the Pas-de-Calais department, which forms part of the region of Hauts-de-France; before the reorganization of 2014 it was in Nord-Pas-de-Calais. The historic centre of the Artois region, with a ...

Lens A lens is a transmissive optical device that focuses or disperses a light beam by means of refraction. A simple lens consists of a single piece of transparent material, while a compound lens consists of several simple lenses (''elements'') ...

Béthune Béthune ( ; archaic and ''Bethwyn'' historically in English) is a town in northern France, Subprefectures in France, sub-prefecture of the Pas-de-Calais Departments of France, department. Geography Béthune is located in the Provinces of Fran ...

, and

Douai Douai ( , , ; ; ; formerly spelled Douay or Doway in English) is a city in the Nord (French department), Nord département in northern France. It is a Subprefectures in France, sub-prefecture of the department. Located on the river Scarpe (rive ...

and

were two small towns situated in the important coal mining basin approximately south-east of Lille. A short distance apart, they were separated by the

Deûle canal The Deûle (; ) is a river of northern France which is channeled for the main part of its course (from Lens to Lille). The upstream part is still partly free-flowing and is known as the Souchez. The Deûle flows into the Lys (right bank) in Deû ...

with Oignies on its western bank and Courrières a short distance on the east. The coal mining industry had drawn on immigrant workers in the interwar period including from

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

and

French Algeria French Algeria ( until 1839, then afterwards; unofficially ; ), also known as Colonial Algeria, was the period of History of Algeria, Algerian history when the country was a colony and later an integral part of France. French rule lasted until ...

Massacre

Courrières, 27-28 May 1940

German forces reached Courrières on 24 May as they moved towards Lille. They attempted to cross the Deûle canal across the only intact bridge known locally as the ''Pont de la Batterie''. This was defended by French troops predominantly from

North North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating Direction (geometry), direction or geography. Etymology T ...

and

West Africa West Africa, also known as Western Africa, is the westernmost region of Africa. The United Nations geoscheme for Africa#Western Africa, United Nations defines Western Africa as the 16 countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, The Gambia, Gha ...

serving with the 106th Colonial Infantry Regiment and as well as the BEF's 2/5 Battalion,

Sherwood Foresters The Sherwood Foresters (Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire Regiment) was a line infantry regiment of the British Army in existence for just under 90 years, from 1881 to 1970. In 1970, the regiment was amalgamated with the Worcestershire Regiment to ...

. Several attempting crossings were successfully beaten back by the Allies on 24 and 26 May. Unable to achieve a crossing, the German units decided that their failure was caused by civilians at Courrières passing information to the French and the possible involvement of ''

francs-tireurs (; ) were irregular military formations deployed by France during the early stages of the Franco-Prussian War (1870–71). The term was revived and used by partisans to name two major French Resistance movements set up to fight against Nazi G ...

''. Most of the civilian population in Courrières had sought shelter from the fighting in cellars and basements. German soldiers nonetheless massacred four local civilians on the street on 27 May. Early the following morning, they took roughly a dozen civilians hostage and attempted to use them as human shields to protect German artillery pieces near the bridge. They also systematically began to burn the town. The historian Jean-Marie Fossier wrote that soldiers went "street to street" throwing incendiary grenades into houses as they passed. According to post-war estimates, 951 buildings were totally destroyed and 220 partially destroyed out of a pre-war total of 1,605. Three schools, the town hall, several other civic buildings, and the historic local church were among the buildings destroyed. Several more civilians were shot, bayonetted, or died in the fire. Fossier noted that "In one courtyard, nearly 20 men were gathered. Several were retirees. One had been wounded by a bullet. There were also several Algerians. They were made to dig a large pit after a pretend judgment." They were then killed with machine-gun fire and buried. Later excavation suggested that some had been buried alive. Altogether, between 38 and 46 civilians were killed by German forces in Courrières. 22 of these were inhabitants of the town, while the remainder were refugees caught up in

the Exodus The Exodus (Hebrew language, Hebrew: יציאת מצרים, ''Yəṣīʾat Mīṣrayīm'': ) is the Origin myth#Founding myth, founding myth of the Israelites whose narrative is spread over four of the five books of the Torah, Pentateuch (specif ...

Oignies, 28 May 1940

As soon as they entered Oignies on 28 May, German forces continued the atrocities begun in Courrières. 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. Among those killed were the Polish priest Jean Chodura and several Polish mineworkers in Oignies and nearby Ostricourt. Many of the dead were aged and invalids. The historian Jean-Marie Fossier write: "In each street, the same scenes were repeated. Houses were gone through from top to bottom, the people thrown violently into the streets, beaten with blows. The men were sometimes the machine-guns or bayonetted infront of the horrified eyes of women and children; others were taken and everwhere were found tortured corpses." A few captured Moroccan and Senegalese soldiers were also killed, with some found decapitated. The victims at Oignies were largely local residents who accounted for 70 of the dead. Aside from four unknown individuals and some refugees from the surrounding region, there were also a number of

prisoners of war A prisoner of war (POW) is a person held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold prisoners of war for a ...

. 400 buildings were burnt at Oignies.

Commemoration

Aftermath

The atrocities at Oignies and Courrières were not the only massacres of French and Belgian civilians committed in the course of the campaign in May and June 1940. Across Nord-Pas de Calais, the SS Panzer Division Totenkopf perpetrated a number of massacres of 92 people at Aubigny-en-Artois and 45 at Vandelicourt both on 22 May, and a further 48 at Beuvry on 24 May. Across the Belgian frontier at Vinkt, Wehrmacht troops of the 225th Infantry Division murdered 86 civilians on 27 May. The victims in Oignies are commemorated by a mausoleum inaugurated in 1947 by the French President

Vincent Auriol Vincent Jules Auriol (; 27 August 1884 – 1 January 1966) was a French politician who served as President of France from 1947 to 1954. Early life and politics Auriol was born in Revel, Haute-Garonne, as the only child of Jacques Antoine Aurio ...

who also declared it a "martyr town" (''ville martyre''). A major road was renamed ''rue des 80 fusiliés''. Courrières was awarded the

Croix de Guerre The (, ''Cross of War'') is a military decoration of France. It was first created in 1915 and consists of a square-cross medal on two crossed swords, hanging from a ribbon with various degree pins. The decoration was first awarded during World ...

with Palms in 1948 and a memorial was inaugurated in 1964.

Trials

The officer accused of instigating the massacre was ''Hauptmann'' Horst Kolrep. He was brought before the Tribunal at

Metz Metz ( , , , then ) is a city in northeast France located at the confluence of the Moselle (river), Moselle and the Seille (Moselle), Seille rivers. Metz is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Moselle (department), Moselle Departments ...

in October 1950. Three other men, Ferdinand Holscher, Hans Kurt Höcker, and Paul Hemmers, were tried in absentia. All four individuals were convicted and Kolrep was sentenced to death. Holscher and Höcker were both sentenced to death, while Hemmers received a 20-year sentence. Kolrep was executed by firing squad on 1 June 1951. Despite requests by the French government, the West German government refused to extradite the three officers convicted in absentia.

References

Citations

Bibliography

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