1944 - The Oradour-sur-Glane Massacre: African Colonial Soldiers Among the Forgotten Dead

On June 10, 1944, in Nazi-occupied France, the village of Oradour-sur-Glane was destroyed by the Waffen-SS, who murdered 642 inhabitants in one of the most infamous massacres of World War II. While the event is widely memorialized in Europe, lesser known is the presence and fate of African colonial soldiers from France\’s empire—particularly West African Tirailleurs Sénégalais—stationed near the region during this period. Many were captured or executed in preceding weeks, their deaths often unrecorded or dismissed in official accounts. These Black soldiers, conscripted from French colonies, fought and died for a nation that largely erased their sacrifice from the historical narrative. The Oradour massacre is emblematic not only of Nazi brutality, but of how African lives were devalued—even in resistance efforts. The racialized layers of remembrance in France have long obscured the contributions of African soldiers in the liberation of Europe. Their recognition remains overdue.