A while ago my parents, now living in the West of France, told me a story of a mass grave of German soldiers in close proximity to where they now live.
On visiting them this Christmas I asked about it again and the story is thus.
At some point, after moving to their house in France, they got chatting to their retired neighbours next door, of whom the lady, at least, has pretty much lived her whole life in the village.
In conversation they got onto the subject of the war and the lady recounted how a group of Germans, either passing through or camped nearby, were looking for food, apparently under strict orders to buy and not steal. They ventured to a nearby farm on the back of their truck to see if the farmer had anything for trade.
At some point the Maquis abushed the group and all were shot.
The bodies were apparently just thrown into a nearby shallow pit which the lady says she actually fell into while taking a farm animal to be watered/fed.
At some point later on, the bodies were buried i.e. someone local simply filled the hole in with soil.
My opinion on this matter is that these soldiers should be exhumed, if the grave exists, and given a proper burial. However, memories of the war and the Germans tend to die hard in this area and information is hard to come by.
The main problem is that the woman next door still recalls where the pit is but is unwilling to say where it is exactly.
My parents were only having a friendly conversation at the time and obviously didn't even think to push the point, but the impression was that she was not overly willing to give out the information.
What do you suggest?
Tom.
On visiting them this Christmas I asked about it again and the story is thus.
At some point, after moving to their house in France, they got chatting to their retired neighbours next door, of whom the lady, at least, has pretty much lived her whole life in the village.
In conversation they got onto the subject of the war and the lady recounted how a group of Germans, either passing through or camped nearby, were looking for food, apparently under strict orders to buy and not steal. They ventured to a nearby farm on the back of their truck to see if the farmer had anything for trade.
At some point the Maquis abushed the group and all were shot.
The bodies were apparently just thrown into a nearby shallow pit which the lady says she actually fell into while taking a farm animal to be watered/fed.
At some point later on, the bodies were buried i.e. someone local simply filled the hole in with soil.
My opinion on this matter is that these soldiers should be exhumed, if the grave exists, and given a proper burial. However, memories of the war and the Germans tend to die hard in this area and information is hard to come by.
The main problem is that the woman next door still recalls where the pit is but is unwilling to say where it is exactly.
My parents were only having a friendly conversation at the time and obviously didn't even think to push the point, but the impression was that she was not overly willing to give out the information.
What do you suggest?
Tom.
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