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La-Chapelle-en-Vercors
La cour des fusillés
On July 25,1944, German soldiers and officers occupied la Chapelle en Vercors. They arrested the townspeople and put them in three groups: women and children, men over 40, and men between 17 and 40. The first two groups were put together in the schools. Around 2am, explosions were heard and the townspeople could see flames rising. Then came submachine-gun fire, pistol shots and further explosions near the Albert farm. In the early morning of July 26, the Germans had vanished and the townspeople found the remains of sixteen young men in the farmyard, with the burning buildings going out around them. The bodies were wrapped in shrouds and buried in the... Read more
Coordinates
- Monument
- Commemorative plaque
- Persecution
- Repression
- Drome
- Historic site
On July 25,1944, German soldiers and officers occupied la Chapelle en Vercors. They arrested the townspeople and put them in three groups: women and children, men over 40, and men between 17 and 40. The first two groups were put together in the schools. Around 2am, explosions were heard and the townspeople could see flames rising. Then came submachine-gun fire, pistol shots and further explosions near the Albert farm. In the early morning of July 26, the Germans had vanished and the townspeople found the remains of sixteen young men in the farmyard, with the burning buildings going out around them. The bodies were wrapped in shrouds and buried in the afternoon.
On June 23, 1949, M Abouzit, the schoolmaster in La Chapelle, told of the events to some fifty student-teachers during a visit to the Valence Normal School.
Today, all that is left of the farmhouse is a wall and a stairway. The barn beside the farmyard has been rebuilt and houses a memorial space dedicated to the victims.
In the farmyard, a marker in engraved glass lists the sixteen names and a commemorative plaque can be seen on the remaining wall. On the other side of the wall, another plaque is inscribed thus: "On July 21, 1944, 600 Germans landed in gliders on the Vassieux plateau, and moved toward La Chapelle en Vercors by way of the Col de Proncel, pillaging everything in their way. They reached La Chapelle on July 25, took 16 innocent hostages and massacred them in utterly vile conditions here. Passerby, remember."
Sources: Musée de la résistance en ligne, fiche "Dans la cour des fusillés à La-Chapelle-en-Vercors" et fiche "Mur des fusillés de La-Chapelle-en-Vercors".