The film was followed up by two interesting documentaries, one about the Nuremburg prosecuter ( aged 95 in the film) who dedicated his life to establishing an International Criminal Court to try crimes against humanity, the second about the trial in Bordeaux of Das Reich soldiers. Much has been made of the presence of soldiers from Alsace in the German army at Oradour. There were some 40 Alsaciens there, mainly forcibly conscripted and many aged under 18. Their defence arguments (they were minors, forced conscripts, mainly occupied on guard duties around the perimeter) were dismissed one by one by the tribunal. Eventually they were condemned to 6-8 years hard labour; a decision that satisfied nobody. The Oradour families wanted their guilt punished, the Alsacien families wanted their innocence recognised. Bigger issues played a part in the eventual outcome as the French government wamted at all costs to avoid a cessation movement in Alsace, which felt it had been handed over to Germany by the Vichy regime. Parliament passed an amnesty law to ensure that the sentences were reduced. As one commentator said " the government had to choose betweeen Oradour and France, and chose France". The programmes are all likely to be available via Pluzz or France 3 replay TV on the internet
Comments to taglines82@gmail.com
