Bucheres Memorial
Bucheres is a part of the suburban sprawl of the city of Troyes in Champagne but 60 years ago it was a small rural village 7 km from the city. On the morning of August 24, 1944, a patrol of German SS soldiers was attacked at a roadblock near Bucheres by partisans and 30 were killed in the ambush. The main German garrison in Troyes was alerted and returned in force and in the ensuing battle 60 partisans were killed and the rest scattered and escaped. This is how the incident is described in a history of that SS unit on a German website:
"On 24 August 1944, the Brigade HQ sent out a motorized scouting party to investigate the situation to the south of Troyes. At Bucheres, in the vicinity of Chatillon, this group ran into a roadblock and was trapped in a partisan ambush. The CO, Stubaf Joeckel, then dispatched 3rd Co/l/SS 51 and 3rd Battery/SS Artillery Detachment 51 to open up the road and smash the partisan resistance. A fierce battle resulted that ended with the partisan forces routed and 62 of their number dead."
That's the entire account
of the SS unit's activity that day on that website. But that was not the end of their day. Three
more columns of SS troops arrived and the reprisals began. One group of soldiers
blocked escape from the village to the south and the others methodically began
the slaughter and burning. By the time the
troops were convinced to leave 68 villagers had been shot and killed and 50
houses set ablaze. Included in the death toll were 10 children under the age of
10, including 3 under 18 months, 5 people older than 70 and 35 women.
The caption beside the photo at left says "Although having 3 bullets in his legs, Jean Dupuis, the older child, was the only one to escape the burning house where the SS killed his little brother Daniel (on the right), his parents Broche and Finfrock, and 2 other children including little René Lewkowiecz, aged 18 months"
Compounding the tragedy of the massacre was the fact that the next day, August 25, Patton's American army attacked Troyes and drove the German forces out, liberating the city (and Bucheres!)