This memorial plaque has been a long time coming. It says:
"Remember the French arrested by the Gestapo on 27 July 1944 in the canton of Loches dead for their country in the German camps.
In this school, 58 men and 6 women lived their first day of suffering with calm, courage and dignity.
49 of them gave their life for your future, your happiness and your freedom."
The new memorial.
"27 July 1944: Loches roundup.
On 27 July 1944, at dawn, Gestapo agents, accompanied by militiamen and German soldiers, came from Tours and took over the town. More than 200 people were arrested, at home and in the street. Suspected of helping the Resistance, they were gathered in the courtyard of the girls' school, on the corner of rue Alfred de Vigny and rue des Jeux.
Civilians, members of the police force, the Loches sub-préfet, gendarmes from Loches and the surrounding area, who had been ordered into town several days earlier, were taken captive. They were interrogated for part of the day.
The courtyard of the girls' school was turned into a prison. By the evening, 58 men and 6 women had not been released. They were taken to the detention centre in Tours then deported to the Nazi camps of Neuengamme and Ravensbrück, where the majority of them would meet their death.
This stele is a place of memory and recollection. It's also the last memorial grave of these victims of Nazism condemned to disappear in the 'Night and Fog' (Nacht und Nebel decree) in the deportation and extermination camps.
We must remember and never forget."
This side street is now called rue des Déportés.
The subsequent list of names and their professions shows first those who died, and then those who returned.
Further Reading: Link to my previous blog post about the Rafle de Loches https://daysontheclaise.blogspot.com/2024/08/le-rafle-de-loches.html
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