Tulle massacre

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The Tulle massacre was a war crime committed on June 9, 1944 by the German Waffen SS against the population of the French city ​​of Tulle .

Historical background

Immediately after the Allies landed in Normandy on June 6, 1944, the partisans rose up in the Massif Central and also in the Limousin to support the invasion and to prevent the supply of German troops to the invasion front. They managed to get large parts of the Massif Central into their hands and they attacked some cities, such as Guéret and Tulle. The German military observed the increase in partisan activity and took countermeasures. On June 7, 1944, the Commander-in-Chief West placed several Wehrmacht units under the command of the French military and the 2nd SS Panzer Division "Das Reich" under SS-Gruppenführer Heinz Lammerding , which had been relocated from the Soviet Eastern Front to southern France in the area of Montauban for refreshment . The SS division was to be used specifically to combat the Resistance and then move north to the invasion front. An advance detachment was set out on the night of June 7th to 8th to Tulle to support the Wehrmacht units that were now enclosed there. On June 8, the entire SS division began to march north on various routes. In addition to fighting the Maquis , the SS division attracted attention by committing numerous war crimes against the civilian population - also in Tulle.

On June 7th and 8th, 1944, the communist-ruled FTP had moved into the city and attacked the Wehrmacht units located there, which were several hundred men strong. During the fight on the afternoon of June 7th, parts of the German defenders shot and killed 18 unarmed railway guards who were working on behalf of the German occupying forces and who wore white armbands. According to Kartheuser, this contributed to the bitterness between the parties. When the headquarters of one of the Wehrmacht units, the 8th Company of the 95th Security Regiment, a school, was locked in on June 8 and was set on fire in the afternoon, many German soldiers were shot while attempting to break out. The FTP finally managed to capture Tulle in the early evening of June 8, 1944. The Germans had to complain about “122 soldiers” - dead, wounded and missing. The exact number of deaths cannot be determined. According to the historian Peter Lieb, the corpses of the dead were partially desecrated, citing a report by the Prefect of the Corrèze Trouille Department. This is denied by other historians. When units of the advance division of the "Das Reich" division reached Tulle with superior forces on the late evening of June 8th, the partisans, who had not known about the approaching troops, fled the city.

course

The next day, June 9th, the division "Das Reich" retaliated against the inhabitants of the city for the military success of the French resistance . The first thing they did that morning was to arrest all male residents between the ages of 18 and 45. These, about 2,000 men, were gathered in the courtyard of the MAT arms factory . Then it was announced to the residents that 120 men from their ranks were to be hanged. The selection (a triage) was made by SD man Walter Schmald , who came from Sankt Vith and was stationed in Tulle . He was advised by high officials loyal to Vichy . Through the intervention of these collaborators , who ensured the release of their friends, the number dropped to 99. Then the soldiers of the Panzer Division hanged these arbitrarily collected hostages in the middle of the city on balconies and lanterns and forced groups of residents to watch. Among other things, a group of 600 young people belonging to the labor service was ordered to do this. During part of the action, numerous SS men were on the terrace of a café during the hanging . They drank and enjoyed themselves, playing a gramophone to what residents ordered to watch and to execution heard. In the opinion of the military historian Peter Lieb, this war crime, which preceded the Oradour massacre , can in some ways be seen as war repression, even if, in his opinion, the German reactions were exaggerated and in some cases contrary to international law. That is not the case for the Oradour massacre that took place a day later.

Prosecution

After 1945, Lammerding was not held responsible for the executions of Tulle by the German judiciary "due to a lack of evidence". He blamed his subordinates or otherwise evaded; he only had to "endure" to be called a hostage murderer by the editor of the left-wing Frankfurter Zeitung Tat , Werner Sterzenbach. Some of the directly involved members of the involved reconnaissance division of the SS division “Das Reich” were tried before a military tribunal in France in 1951 , and those found guilty were convicted.

In August 1944, when Tulle was finally retaken from the German occupation , the Forces françaises de l'intérieur were also involved.

Film about the Tulle massacre

  • A trail of blood through France. France 2015. Broadcast in ARTE on May 2, 2017, 8:15 pm to 9:45 pm. (The Tulle massacre is documented in part of the film).

literature

  • Helga Bories, Rolf Sawala: J'écris ton nom: Liberté. La France occupée et la Resistance ; Schöningh, Paderborn 2002; ISBN 3-14-045500-3 (This collection of sources begins with the report on how one of the well-known perpetrators of 1944, known as "Die Hündin", was recognized in Tulle in 1978 when she bought regional delicacies for resale in Germany and how the People react to it.)
  • Collaboration and Resistance in France ; ISBN 0-8109-4123-6 (also printed in French version); P. 207: picture "Laughing Germans next to the hanged civilians" (an illustration that fits exactly to Theweleit's "male fantasies")
  • Bruno Kartheuser: The hanging of Tulle. June 9, 1944. Volume 3 of the series by Kartheuser listed below. St. Vith / Belgium, 2004. ISBN 2-87316-020-9 . French: Les pendaisons de Tulle. Le 9 juin 1944.
  • Bruno Kartheuser: The hanging of Tulle. An unpunished crime. Volume 4 of the series of works by Kartheuser listed below. French: Les pendaisons de Tulle. Crime sans chatiment. German: 2008 ISBN 2-87316-032-2 .
    • Bruno Kartheuser: Walter, SD in Tulle . Series of 4 volumes & one register; Edition Krautgarten , St. Vith / Belgium. (About the Belgian national and member of the SD Walter Schmald and his involvement in the Tulle massacre).
Vol. 2: The tragedy of June 9, 1944. Occupied France 1940–1943. 2004 ISBN 2-87316-015-2 . French: La France occupée 1940–1943. 2002
Vol. 1: The 30s in Eupen-Malmedy . Insight into the network of the Reich German subversion. (many perpetrators came from East Belgium ). In Dutch: De jaren dertig in Eupen-Malmedy. A look at the network van de Groot-Duitse subversie. In French: Les années trente à Eupen-Malmedy. Regard sur le réseau de la subversion allemande.
  • ders .: Un regard vrai sur les événements de Tulle. Droit de questions. Peuple et Culture, Conference on November 10th. 2008, PEC Tulle. Ed. Krautgarten, St. Vith 2009
  • Alan Shillaker: The martyrs of Tulle. (in English) ibid. 2005

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Ahlrich Meyer: The German occupation in France. Fight against resistance and persecution of Jews , Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, Darmstadt, 2000. ISBN 3-534-14966-1 , p. 153.
  2. ↑ Peter Lieb : Conventional war or Nazi ideological war? Warfare and the fight against partisans in France 1943/44. Oldenbourg Wissenschaftsverlag, Munich 2007, ISBN 978-3-486-57992-5 . P. 364ff.
  3. ^ Bruno Kartheuser: The hangings of Tulle. June 9, 1944. St. Vith / Belgium, 2004. ISBN 2-87316-020-9 . P. 331f.
  4. ^ Bruno Kartheuser: The hangings of Tulle. June 9, 1944. St. Vith / Belgium, 2004. ISBN 2-87316-020-9 . P. 371.
  5. ↑ Peter Lieb: Conventional war or Nazi ideological war? , Page 364f.
  6. ^ Bruno Kartheuser: The hangings of Tulle. June 9, 1944. St. Vith / Belgium, 2004. ISBN 2-87316-020-9 . P. 371.
  7. ↑ Bruno Kartheuser: The Hangings of Tulle: June 9, 1944. St. Vith / Belgium, 2004, ISBN 2-87316-020-9 , p. 450ff.
  8. ^ Bruno Kartheuser: The hangings of Tulle. June 9, 1944. St. Vith / Belgium, 2004, ISBN 2-87316-020-9 , p. 450ff.
    Peter Lieb: Conventional war or Nazi ideological war? Warfare and the fight against partisans in France 1943/44. Munich 2007, p. 364.
    The massacre in the French city of Tulle in 1944. In: geschichtsthemen.de. April 4, 2013, accessed June 9, 2019 .
  9. ^ Bruno Kartheuser: The hangings of Tulle. June 9, 1944. St. Vith / Belgium, 2004. ISBN 2-87316-020-9 . P. 453.
  10. ↑ Peter Lieb: Conventional war or Nazi ideological war? Warfare and the fight against partisans in France 1943/44. Munich 2007, p. 368.
  11. ↑ Lorenz Knorr : An unpunished crime: the SS murderers from Tulle lived undisturbed in the Federal Republic. In: Our time (UZ) . July 10, 2009, archived from the original on September 23, 2015 ; accessed on June 9, 2019 .
  12. ^ Bruno Kartheuser: The hangings of Tulle. June 9, 1966. edition Krautgarten orte, Neundorf 2004, ISBN 2-87316-020-9 .
    Peter Lieb : Conventional war or Nazi ideological war? Warfare and the fight against partisans in France 1943/44. Oldenbourg Wissenschaftsverlag, Munich 2007, ISBN 978-3-486-57992-5 . P. 364ff.