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STORY: French President Francois Hollande and German President Joachim Gauck gathered on Wednesday in the church of Oradour-sur-Glane, the martyr village of World War II.
It was the first time a German head of state visited the site.
The commemoration echoed another historical moment when then French President Francois Mitterrand and then German Chancellor Helmut Kohl stood hands in hands in Verdun in 1984 to symbolize Franco-German reconciliation.
Hollande and Gauck listened to the explanations given on the massacre by a survivor of the killing, Robert Hebras, and the three men stood shoulder against shoulder for a moment inside the church, offering a highlight of emotion where, in June 1944, Nazi soldiers killed 642 people, including 205 children.
They finished their visit accompanied by the mayor of beside town, Oradour, and followed by their respective wives.
