Hitler's elite troops destroyed every building in this peaceful village and brutally murdered a total of 642 innocent men, women and children.
A German officer named Helmut Kämpfe was kidnapped by the Resistance and taken to Breuilaufa where he was killed. Kämpfe managed to throw his personal papers out of the vehicle as a clue to his whereabouts; they were handed in to his commanding officer Sylvester Stadler.
Another officer, Karl Gerlach and his driver were kidnapped by the Resistance and might have been taken to Oradour-sur-Vayres, about 35 miles away. Gerlach managed to escape and he reported to Stadler what had happened.
Sylvester Stadler misinterpreted that the kidnapped officer Kämpfe was being held prisoner at Oradour-sur-Glane. He ordered Adolf Diekmann and his soldiers to negotiate the release of Helmut Kämpfe.
Instead Diekmann ordered the population exterminated and the village burned to the ground. Diekmann was killed in action shortly afterward and a large number of the third company, which had committed the massacre, were themselves killed in action within a few days
