VILLAGE IN FRANCE DESTROYED BY THE GERMANS IN WW2.
(ORADOUR SUR GLANE) Towards the end of the Second World War, in a peaceful part of France, there took place a particularly horrible murder of 642 men women and children.
On the 10th of June 1944, a group of soldiers from the Der Fuhrer regiment of the 2nd SS- Panzer Division Das Reich entered and then surrounded the small town of Oradour-sur- Glane, near to the city of Limoges.
At first, they told the Mayor, Jean Desourteaux, that there was to be an identity check and that everyone must go to the Champ de Foire (fairground) whilst this took place. After rounding up all the inhabitants that they could find, the SS then changed their story from that of an identity check, to one of searching for hidden arms and explosives. The soldiers then said that whilst they searched for the arms, the women and children must wait in the church and the men in nearby barns.
The women and children were marched off to the church, the children being encouraged by the soldiers to sing as they went. After they had left, the men were divided into six groups and led off to different barns in the town under armed guard. When the townspeople were all safely shut away the SS began to kill them all.
A large gas bomb, seemingly made out of smoke-screen grenades and intended to asphyxiate the occupants, was placed in the church, but it did not work properly when it went off and so the SS had to use machine guns and hand grenades to disable and kill the women and children.
After they had subdued all the occupant of the church, the soldiers piled wood on the bodies, many of whom were still alive and set it on fire.
Only one person managed to escape alive from the church and that was Madame Rouffanche. She saw her younger daughter who was sitting next to her killed by a bullet as they attempted to find shelter in the vestry. Madame Rouffanche then ran to the alter end of the church where she found a stepladder used to light the candles. Placing the ladder behind the alter she climbed up and threw herself through a window and out onto the ground some 10 feet below. As she picked herself up, a woman holding her baby tried to follow,but they were seen by the soldiers and both woman and child were killed. In spite of being shot and wounded five times, Madame Rouffanche escaped round the back of the church and dug herself into the earth between some rows of peas, where she remained hidden until late the next day. At the same time that the gas bomb exploded in the church, the SS fired their machine guns into the men crowded in the barns. They deliberately fired low, so that many of the men were badly wounded but not killed. The soldiers then piled wood and straw on the bodies and set it alight, many of the men thus burned to death, uable to move because of their injuries. Six men did manage to escape from Madame Laudy's barn but one of them was seen and shot dead, the other five all wounded, got away under cover of darkness.
The Unbearable Beauty of the Night Sky
Take a DEEP BREATH before watching this ESOCast mashup with Dr. J. The Sun is setting behind Cerro Paranal in the Chilean Atacama desert. While astronomers get ready to observe with ESO's Very Large Telescope, Nature prepares for her own grand display. As night falls over the desert, the southern sky reveals its nocturnal beauty, leaving the spectator in silent amazement. Some people, however, don't just stare at the spectacle. With great skill, they record these unique moments for everyone to see - they are the photographers of the night.
Anyone who has been up at night in a remote, high place such as at one of ESO's observatories in Chile may have been lucky enough to experience the splendid view of the myriad stars shining brightly from the heavens. It is a both a dream and a challenge for a photographer to capture an image of this incredible view. Today we will focus on three ESO staff members, who, during their free time, produce outstanding astrophotography. By publishing their results on the internet they share their enthusiasm for the astonishing wonders of the southern skies with a wider audience.
Yuri Beletsky is an ESO Fellow and astronomer at the Paranal Observatory.
When not observing with the world's most advanced telescope, the VLT, he actively lives out his passion for taking pictures of the southern sky.
I like the night sky, I like stars and the night sky is so beautiful, you can see millions of stars and astrophotography is the best way to show the people what actually stars are, so taking this picture I share my passion with people and I am showing the sky then.
Over time, Yuri has produced many spectacular images of Paranal against the wonderful backdrop of the night sky.
A laser beam shooting out of one of the VLT _s Unit Telescopes.
The bright constellation of the Southern Cross.
The Pipe Nebula with its picturesque dust lane crossing the Milky Way.
Sunlight reflected by small particles of dust lying in between the planets causes the faint zodiacal light.
Paranal is an ideal site for astrophotographers as it offers crystal-clear, extremely dark skies with perfect weather conditions on about 320 nights per year.
Gerhard Hüdepohl, an electronic engineer at Paranal knows about the photographic benefits of the VLT _s site.
Gerhard, who is also a renowned photographer of Chile's landscape, combines the beauty of the Atacama desert with the shining Milky Way in a unique way.
My favourite type of photography is landscape photography and in particular images of the landscape at night, showing the Milky Way in the night sky here in the Atacama desert. And here at Paranal I can have the telescopes as a nice foreground and the stars and the night sky as a background.
The bright plane of our Milky Way as it arches above the VLT. An image like this can only be obtained under top-notch stargazing conditions, such as those offered at Paranal.
Like Yuri, Gerhard has also produced a spectacular series of images showing the VLT with its laser beam and the night sky.
I am always trying to show Paranal from new, fresh points of view, different angles, different times of the day, so I am always thinking about new ideas. So that is my plan for the future.
Astrophotography is very demanding. The photographer has to stay out in the dark and in the chill of the night for many hours. Sometimes it can take several nights of painstaking work in these tough conditions to obtain just one image and the equipment must always function flawlessly.
Stéphane Guisard is the head of the optical group at Paranal. His astrophotography benefits from his professional expertise as an optical engineer specialising in telescopes.
I take pictures of galaxies and nebulae with a telescope, but I also like to take wide-field images of the sky with a terrestrial foreground. I like to share the beauty of the sky and the Universe with people.
This photographic mosaic of the central parts of our galactic home is just one example of Stéphane's work. Taken with an amateur telescope coupled to a CCD camera, the image combines about 1200 photos for a total exposure time of around 250 hours.
Stéphane has also produced a spectacular series of timelapse sequences at the Paranal site. Producing such sequences is quite a challenge as the images must be taken at regular intervals, and all the parameters must match perfectly to obtain the sensation of the moving firmament.
There is no doubt that Yuri, Gerhard and Stéphane will continue to produce stunning images of the starry skies above Paranal. The wonderful quality of the images is a testament to the splendour of the night sky at ESO's Paranal Observatory. By sharing their work, these three astrophotographers have brought their magnificent view of the southern sky to a wider audience.