The division massacred 642 French civilians in the village of Oradour-sur-Glane on 10 June 1944 in the Limousin region . SS - '' Sturmbannführer '' Adolf Diekmann , commander of the I Battalion , 4th SS Panzergrenadier Regiment ( '' Der Führer '' ) that committed the massacre , claimed that it was a just retaliation due to partisan activity in nearby Tulle and the kidnapping of '' Sturmbannführer '' Helmut Kämpfe , commander of the III Battalion , although the German authorities had already executed ninety-nine people in the Tulle massacre , following the killing of some forty German soldiers in Tulle by the Maquis resistance movement
Tulle massacre
Tulle massacre
2nd SS Panzer Division Das Reich