Tulle is a commune

Communes of France

The commune is the lowest level of administrative division in the French Republic. French communes are roughly equivalent to incorporated municipalities or villages in the United States or Gemeinden in Germany...

 and capital of the Corrèze

Corrèze

Corrèze is a department in south central France, named after the Corrèze River.The inhabitants of the department are called Corréziens or Corréziennes according to gender.-History:...

 department in the Limousin

Limousin (région)

Limousin is one of the 27 regions of France. It is composed of three départements: Corrèze, Creuse and the Haute-Vienne.Situated largely in the Massif Central, as of January 1st 2008, the Limousin comprised 740,743 inhabitants on nearly 17 000 km2, making it the second least populated region of...

 region in central France. It is also the episcopal see of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Tulle. It is the third-largest town in the Limousin region, after Limoges

Limoges

Limoges |Limousin]] dialect of Occitan) is a city and commune, the capital of the Haute-Vienne department and the administrative capital of the Limousin région in west-central France....

 and Brive-la-Gaillarde

Brive-la-Gaillarde

Brive-la-Gaillarde is a commune of France. It is a sub-prefecture of the Corrèze department. The population of the urban area was 89,260 as of 1999. Although it is by far the biggest commune in Corrèze, the capital is Tulle.-History:...

.

Massacre by the Waffen SS in 1944

During the Second World War, the 2nd SS Division Das Reich

2nd SS Division Das Reich

The 2nd SS Panzer Division Das Reich was a Waffen-SS division during World War II. It is considered to be an elite formation amongst the thirty-eight divisions fielded by the Waffen-SS....

 division of the Waffen SS perpetrated a reprisal massacre of civilians in Tulle, following the killing and maiming of some 40 German soldiers in Tulle on 8 June 1944 by the Maquis

Maquis (World War II)

The Maquis were the predominantly rural guerrilla bands of the French Resistance. Initially they were composed of men who had escaped into the mountains to avoid conscription into Vichy France's Service du travail obligatoire to provide forced labour for Germany...

 Resistance Movement.

On 9 June 1944 a large number of male civilians were rounded up by the SS. Of these, 97 were randomly selected and then hanged from lamp posts and balconies in the town. Additionally, another 321 captives were sent to forced labour camps in Germany.

Tulle Prison and the Algerian War

In the last stages of the Algerian War and its aftermath, some military officers involved in armed opposition to Charles de Gaulle

Charles de Gaulle

Charles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle was a French general and statesman who led the Free French Forces during World War II. He later founded the French Fifth Republic in 1958 and served as its first President from 1959 to 1969....

's evacuation of Algeria were held at Tulle. De Gaulle referred at the time to "those idiotic generals playing ball in Tulle Prison".

Population

Twin towns

Tulle is twinned with: Schorndorf

Schorndorf

Schorndorf is a town in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, located c. 26 km east of Stuttgart. Its station is a the terminus of line S2 of the Stuttgart S-Bahn....

, Germany Errenteria

Errenteria

Errenteria is a town located in the province of Gipuzkoa in the Basque Autonomous Community, North of Spain, near the French border. The river Oiartzun cuts its way through the town, one that has undergone severe pollution up to recent times on its lower...

, Spain Bury

Bury

Bury is a town in Greater Manchester, England. It lies on the River Irwell, east of Bolton, west-southwest of Rochdale, and north-northwest of the city of Manchester...

, United Kingdom Lousada

Lousada

-Parishes:The 25 parishes of Lousada are:* Alvarenga* Aveleda* Boim* Caíde de Rei* Casais* Cernadelo* Covas* Cristelos * Figueiras* Lodares* Lustosa* Macieira* Meinedo* Nespereira* Nevogilde* Nogueira* Ordem* Pias...

, Portugal Smolensk

Smolensk

Smolensk is a city and the administrative center of Smolensk Oblast, Russia, located on the Dnieper River. Situated west-southwest of Moscow, this walled city was destroyed several times throughout its long history since it was on the invasion routes of both Napoleon and Hitler. Today, Smolensk...

, Russia Dueville

Dueville

Dueville is a town and comune in the province of Vicenza, Veneto, Italy. It is south of SP50. As of 2007 Dueville had an estimated population of 13,988.-Sources:*...

, Italia

External links

• Official website
• Pictures of Tulle Cathedral: http://site.voila.fr/pointer/hopita27.jpg, http://www.limousin.culture.gouv.fr/images/prospermerimee/tulleabbatialeinterieur.jpg
• The SS Massacre At Tulle in 1944
• German website re Tulle massacre
• Penaud, Guy – "La 'Das Reich' 2e SS Panzer Division" (Parcours de la division en France – 560 pages), Editions de La Lauze/Périgueux – ISBN 2 – 912032-76-8
• see also: Das Reich: The March of the 2nd SS Panzer Division Through France, written by Max Hastings; and a critique