Robert Ebras, the last survivor of the 1944 Oradour-sur-Glane massacre, has died in France at the age of 97. This was announced on February 11 by the Prime Minister of the Republic, Elizabeth Born.
“It is with deep sadness that I learned of the death of Robert Ebras, the last survivor of Oradour-sur-Glane and a tireless keeper of memory. We will never forget the 643 victims of this heinous crime, all who survived Nazi barbarism,” she wrote on Twitter.
The massacre at Oradour-sur-Glane took place on June 10, 1944. It was a Nazi punitive operation in response to the actions of the French partisans, who executed SS officer Helmut Kempfe.
On that day, an SS detachment under the command of Adolf Dieckmann surrounded Oradour-sur-Glane and ordered the men to be locked up in the barns, and the women and children in the local church. After that, all the inhabitants were shot, and the buildings were burned. 643 people died, including 260 children, of which 68 were under the age of six.
Only six villagers managed to escape, among whom was Robert Ebras, who was injured in the chest, arms and legs. He later joined the resistance movement and joined the French armed forces.
After World War II, Ebras testified at the Oradour-sur-Glane mass murder trial, lectured in Germany about the tragedy, and led tours of the site of the former village, including for current French President Emmanuel Macron.
