Tulle murders The Tulle Murders refer to the actions committed by the 2nd SS Panzer Division Das Reich in June 1944 , during World War II . After a successful FTP offensive on 7 and 8 June 1944 , the arrival of " Das Reich " troops forced the guerillas to evacuate the city of Tulle ( Corrèze ) , in the Limousin region of France . On 9 June 1944 , after arresting all men between the ages of sixteen and sixty , the SS and members of the SD ordered 120 of the prisoners to be hanged , of whom 99 were first tortured . In the days that followed , 149 men were sent to the Dachau concentration camp , where 101 lost their lives . In total , the actions of the Wehrmacht , the Waffen - SS , and the Sicherheitsdienst or SD , claimed the lives of 213 civilian residents of Tulle . Historical context . 2nd SS Panzer Division . At the beginning of 1944 , after suffering heavy losses on the Eastern Front , the 2nd SS Panzer Division Das Reich , under the command of Gruppenführer Heinz Lammerding regrouped in Valence - d ' Agen to prepare to depart for the Western Front . They were to respond to the purported landing of 18 , 000 Allied soldiers supported by light armoured vehicles and tanks . Historically , there have been several theories for the reason behind the 2nd Panzer Division ' s role in the massacres . According to Peter Lieb , these were the division ' s heavy belief in the ideology of National Socialism , their battle experience on the Eastern Front , the fact that they saw themselves as an elite military unit , and the fact that they had already participated in engagements with the French Resistance . After the Normandy Landings , the 2nd Panzer Division received orders to position themselves in the region between Tulle and Limoges to suppress the Maquis , who , in coordination with the Allied invasion , were intensifying their insurgency against German interests and forces . It was the personal wish of Hitler that the division confront the Maquis in the face of their escalation . The order to engage the guerillas was given known as the Sperrle Ordinance , after the Deputy High Commander of the Western Front . By those orders , the division was to immediately attack the terrorists at any opportunity and that if any civilians were killed , that it would be regrettable , but would be the responsibility of the terrorists and not their own . The orders also called for the area to be secured along with all inhabitants , and that any house used by the resistance or its supporters , regardless of its owner , were to be burned . The orders of the commander of the division mentioned certain precise tactics : " The resistance must be wiped out by outflanking them . " On 5 June 1944 , General Lammerding approved the use of repressive measures implemented in Eastern Europe in the suppression of the Maquis . His program included provisions such as use of counter - propaganda and discrimination , and other actions intended to " turn the public against the terrorists . " It approved massive arrests , occupation of important localities , and the commandeering of vehicles . Notably , it also read that " For every German wounded or killed , we will kill ten terrorists . " Execution is not a usual part of the French justice system . The order ' s overreaching goal was to separate the resistance from the rest of French citizens and turn the public against them . Between early May and 9 June , the division , particularly the regiment " Der Führer " designated as under the direction of the Department of Information , conducted a widespread search for supporters of the resistance as well as put several anti - guerilla operations into effect . During these operations , sixty guerillas were killed and twenty were deported to labor camps . An estimated hundred civilians were killed in a variety of circumstances , while hundreds of houses were burned .