A German court has thrown out a case against a former SS member accused of participating in the massacre of 642 residents of a French village during World War II . The 89-year-old had been accused of murdering 25 people and aiding the murder of several hundred others at Oradour-sur-Glane in central France on June 10 , 1944 . According to the indictment , troops surrounded the village before rounding up all the residents in the town square and separating the men from the women and children . The men were shot in four barns , which were then burned down . The women and children were imprisoned in a church into which explosives and hand grenades were thrown . Troops then set that building alight , killing any survivors of the initial attack . There was no doubt that members of the man 's Panzer regiment had killed the Oradour-sur-Glane residents and burned down the village , the Cologne Regional Court said in a statement Tuesday . But the court said it was unlikely the case against the pensioner , named by local media only as Werner C. , would have been provable . Demonstrating he had been present in the village on the day of the massacre would not on its own have been enough to prove the charges against him , it said . Oradour-sur-Glane Mayor Philippe Lacroix told CNN the decision would be appealed . `` We need to go through with the lawsuit for the families . Time does not excuse the crime , '' he said . `` Germany has worked hard to ensure that the trial takes place , and we hope it will succeed . '' Radio France International quoted prosecutor Andreas Brendel as saying he was `` surprised '' by the Cologne court 's decision , despite evidence in such cases being `` extremely thin . '' The ruins of Oradour-sur-Glane have been preserved as a monument to those killed there . The village 's Centre de la Memoire , or Memory Center , says 300,000 people visit the `` martyr village '' annually .
A court has thrown out a case against a man accused of taking part in a massacre in Cologne . Cologne Regional Court troops killed 642 residents in the village of Cologne Regional Court in the day . Oradour-sur-Glane said there was no doubt the massacre occurred . But it said that it was unlikely the case against the pensioner , 89 , would be provable .