Oradour massacre
Witness History4 Feb 2025

Oradour massacre

In June 1944, a village in France was destroyed in just one day. German soldiers entered Oradour-sur-Glane and gathered the villagers together. They separated the men from the women and children and took groups to different locations of the village.

On that day, 642 were killed. Robert Hébras was just a teenager at the time.

Robert’s granddaughter, Agathe Hébras tells Gill Kearsley his powerful story, from the arrival of the soldiers to his escape and then his realisation that he was one of the few survivors of the massacre.

A warning, this programme contains descriptions of death.

Eye-witness accounts brought to life by archive. Witness History is for those fascinated by the past. We take you to the events that have shaped our world through the eyes of the people who were there. For nine minutes every day, we take you back in time and all over the world, to examine wars, coups, scientific discoveries, cultural moments and much more.

Recent episodes explore everything from football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.

(Photo: Robert Hebras at age 86, walks through the ruins of Oradour-sur-Glane. Credit: Jean-Pierre Muller/AFP via Getty Images)

Avsnitt(2000)

Hitler's teeth

Hitler's teeth

On 8 May 1945, Yelena Rzhevskaya was handed a small box covered in red satin. The box had once held perfume but now inside – so she said – were Adolf Hitler’s teeth. Yelena later claimed this marked t...

8 Apr 10min

Marcel Duchamp and the urinal that changed art

Marcel Duchamp and the urinal that changed art

In October 1942, the great French conceptualist artist Marcel Duchamp helped put on the first major surrealist exhibition in New York. Carroll Janis's parents were friends of Duchamp.Louise Hidalgo sp...

7 Apr 10min

Straightening the Leaning Tower of Pisa

Straightening the Leaning Tower of Pisa

On 15 December 2001, the Leaning Tower of Pisa reopened to the public after an unprecedented 11-year closure. Famous worldwide for its dramatic lean, the tower also became, during the 1990s, the most ...

6 Apr 9min

The first commercially successful electronic cigarette

The first commercially successful electronic cigarette

In the summer of 2003, pharmacist Hon Lik was one of millions of smokers in China.He was coughing a lot and having problems with his breathing and wondered if he could make an alternative cigarette.Af...

3 Apr 10min

Spain welcomes Picasso’s Guernica

Spain welcomes Picasso’s Guernica

In 1981 one of the world’s most iconic works of art – Guernica - was finally handed to Spain after a 44-year exile.Pablo Picasso had created the huge mural in 1937 followed the bombing of the Basque t...

2 Apr 10min

New Nordic cuisine

New Nordic cuisine

In 2004, Danish food entrepreneur Claus Meyer launched the ‘Nordic Kitchen Manifesto’, kick-starting a revolution in Nordic cooking focused on local seasonal ingredients. The new approach was most fam...

1 Apr 10min

The discovery of the Terra Nova shipwreck

The discovery of the Terra Nova shipwreck

In 2012, a team of researchers discovered one of the most famous polar shipwrecks - the Terra Nova.The ship was famous for carrying Britain’s doomed explorers in their race to reach the South Pole mor...

31 Mars 10min

Echo and the elephants

Echo and the elephants

In 1972, the world’s longest-running study of wild elephants was first launched in Kenya, making a star of one of its subjects – Echo.For decades, the Amboseli Elephant Research Project followed Echo ...

30 Mars 10min

Populärt inom Samhälle & Kultur

podme-dokumentar
aftonbladet-krim
en-mork-historia
p3-dokumentar
gynning-berg
svenska-fall
creepypodden-med-jack-werner
skaringer-nessvold
hor-har
spar
killradet
mardromsgasten
aftonbladet-daily
kod-katastrof
rss-brottsutredarna
flashback-forever
historiska-brott
vad-blir-det-for-mord
rss-mer-an-bara-morsa
rysarpodden