Couvonges | |
|---|---|
_mairie.jpg) The town hall in Couvonges | |
.svg) Coat of arms | |
 Location of Couvonges | |
  Couvonges  Couvonges | |
| Coordinates:48°46′34″N5°01′37″E / 48.7761°N 5.0269°E /48.7761; 5.0269 | |
| Country | France |
| Region | Grand Est |
| Department | Meuse |
| Arrondissement | Bar-le-Duc |
| Canton | Revigny-sur-Ornain |
| Intercommunality | CC du Pays de Revigny-sur-Ornain |
| Government | |
| • Mayor(2020–2026) | Daniel Poirson[1] |
Area 1 | 4.56 km2 (1.76 sq mi) |
| Population (2022)[2] | 153 |
| • Density | 33.6/km2 (86.9/sq mi) |
| Time zone | UTC+01:00 (CET) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+02:00 (CEST) |
| INSEE/Postal code | 55134 /55800 |
| Elevation | 146–208 m (479–682 ft) (avg. 284 m or 932 ft) |
| 1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km2 (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries. | |
Couvonges (French pronunciation:[kuvɔ̃ʒ]) is acommune in theMeusedepartment inGrand Est in north-easternFrance.
In August 1944 German troops en route toSaint-Dizier to face GeneralGeorge S. Patton'sXII Corps[3] killed a number of civilians and destroyed most of the town. This is also referred to as theMassacre de la vallée de la Saulx.
According toEdward R. Koudelka,Special Agent for theUS Counter-Intelligence Corps, the29th Regiment of the3rd Panzergenadier Division was camped near a wooded area on the edge of town when a German officer and several soldiers were shot on 27 August byFrench resistance fighters.[4] In retaliation,Major General Hans Hecker, who was in command of the division, ordered the execution byfiring squad of twenty-six randomly selected Frenchmen. About sixty other civilians were killed in the neighboring towns ofRobert-Espagne,[5]Beurey-sur-Saulx andMognéville.
The bodies were buried in amass grave in a field near the town, but a local resident was able to obtaina photograph of the bodies before burial. According to Koudelka's informants, at 11 am on 29 August fifty-four of the town's sixty houses were burned, although the church was left standing. A total of 329 houses were looted and burned in the three towns.
Koudelka gathered evidence for use in theNuremberg Trials, however Major General Hecker was released in 1947 and never tried.[6][7] The case was assigned to the Military Court of Metz, which identified eight German soldiers (out of about fifty who participated in atrocities). In 1950, the four officers, two warrant officers and two soldiers were convicted. The judgment was delivered on 28 May 1952 and the sentences were pronouncedin absentia: four received death sentences and four were sentenced to hard labor for life.[8][9]
Charles de Gaulle participated in a memorial service on 28 July 1946.[4] A memorial was inaugurated on August 29, 1949 by GeneralAndré Zeller, commander of the 6th military region. The monument is located in the town of Beurey-sur-Saulx.[10]
