Oradour — Brian Francis

A deeply emotional and well-crafted historical fiction set in the Second World War, ‘Oradour' follows the journey of a seemingly disparate group of people who find themselves lost in the war damage of Europe, in the midst of the military action as both soldiers and innocent victims. They fight for the family life they have left behind, and against the war crimes ordered by the small man in the bunker, their lives intricately entwined by what might be Fate to witness one of the greatest tragedies of the War: the massacre of the village of Oradour. An older man, Georges saw military action as a soldier in the Great War, and now it has come again to take away everything he loves, to tear his family apart. He can sit by and do nothing, or he can fight back and take revenge. An upcoming Waffen SS officer, Heinz does his duty for his country, leaving behind his young wife, Hannah, in Dresden and the family life he yearns to come home to. As the war crimes perpetrated by his country grow, he can continue to follow the orders of his superiors, or he can disobey and return home, knowing what the consequences of such an action will be. Frank is an infantryman on the long road back to Dunkirk, determined to not let the war damage his sense of honour or the wounded Polish airman on the stretcher he carries. When a bomb explodes on the road next to him, he can choose to abandon the only other survivor, or to save her. As the lives of these people and those they touch intertwine, the full horrors of the Second World War become shockingly real for those on both sides, but the looming threat of death and destruction is nothing compared to what they will face in the village of Oradour. And what is left after history has crushed its victims and torn families apart? Seldom does a work of Second World War historical fiction weave such lyricism into the experiences of those on both sides of the divide of Europe, or encompass such scope in the morality of the soldiers and civilians caught up in the fighting. The sophistication of ‘Oradour' brings to light the suffering brought to so many by one man, and shows how even in the middle of a war, compassion, bravery and understanding can alter the lives of many.