After a successful offensive by the French Resistance group Francs-tireur on 7 and 8 June 1944, the arrival of Das Reich troops forced the Maquis to flee the city of Tulle (department of Corrèze) in south-central France.

According to Peter Lieb, these were the division's heavy belief in the ideology of national socialism, their battle experience on the Eastern Front, that they saw themselves as an elite military unit, and 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.

Directed by the SS-Hauptsturmführer Friedrich Korten, these men, along with elements of the North African Legion [fr] under the command of Henri Lafont, mounted a crackdown on the Maquis.

[7] In total, the operations against the Resistance by the Brehmer division were responsible for 1,500 arrests, 55 shootings, 128 crimes or offenses in 92 localities and 200 Jews murdered, but no direct confrontation with the Maquis.

"[8] It had several objectives: "disarm, and if possible, destroy the German defenses; disarm the mobile reserve groups and appropriate for themselves their weapons and vehicles; render inoffensive the French Militia [Milice the Vichy French militia] and known collaborators",[9] but also, "to open gaps in the defense, to inspire a healthy fear of its leaders and get them to retreat into Tulle and be unwilling to leave, stopping them, at least for a time, from continuing their efforts against the Maquis.

[14] The offensive began on 7 June 1944 at 05:00[15] with a bazooka shot on the security forces' barracks at Champ de Mars serving as the signal to begin the attack.

At 11:30, the forces of the Milice and the Mobile Reserve Group hoisted a white flag on the barracks of the Champs de Mars and, following negotiations, they left the town around 16:00 carrying all their gear.

[19] Meanwhile, around 13:30, German forces took advantage of a partial withdrawal of the Maquis from the hills around Tulle that had been ordered by Chapou[20] and briefly regained control of the train station where they found the watchmen wearing white armbands, part of their work uniform but also bearing some resemblance to those worn by the FTP.

[16] In all the confusion, the Maquis opened fire with automatic weapons; some soldiers were cut down at close range, by exploding grenades, and this explains the injuries observed on the horribly mutilated corpses.

On 9 June, at 06:00, the Germans searched the prefecture and threatened to execute the prefect, Trouillé, after finding weapons and ammunition abandoned there by the Mobile Reserve Group.

He told them that the mass arrests had already begun, detaining all men between the ages of sixteen and sixty and authorizing only "the release of all essential elements after verification of their loyalties.

The mass arrests affected a population already distraught from the battle: "In small groups, the SS scoured the homes and the streets; they entered lodgings, examined the men that they found there; to the women, they claimed that it was an identity check, that the absence of their husband, sons or brothers would not last long so not to bother packing supplies".

[30] In accordance with the agreement with Kowatsch that authorized the release of those essential to the resumption of normal activity in the city, French officials went to the arms factory to negotiate who among those rounded up would be counted among these.

"It was soon noticed that the mayor (Colonel Bouty) was accompanied by several people, department heads, the director of industrial energy, the stationmaster, and other staff with their large gold caps, the school inspector—among us—but these gentlemen stood up there on the road with the German officers... it smelled of collaboration.

"[35] Antoine Soulier described Schmald as having long blond hair with tan highlights swept back, clean-shaven, a dark complexion, about 30 years old, his eyes always squinting half-shut in order to see better, and most of all the right half of his upper lip was always raised in a venomous sneer.

[37] According to H. Espinasse, even though Schmald asked for verification of some identity cards, he judged people based on their appearance and, for no apparent reason, sent them to join the small group on his left [the future victims].

[40] This process led to the following reflection by one of the survivors, Jean-Louis Bourdelle: "I was dismayed to learn that the French and the Germans took pride in having freed some hostages, it seems these wretches didn't realize that in doing so they had thus admitted their part in the executions.

During that of the first group, "in one case [...], the victim, badly hung without a doubt, was wracked by spasms; then I saw the soldier who had removed his ladder used it to hit the tortured man until he stopped moving completely".

After that, he noted that "the execution squad forced the condemned to walk, and not without violence; I can still see the soldier, in a fit of rage, breaking the butt of his rifle on the back of a victim who had frozen in horror at the sight of the noose".

[43] Throughout the operation, Paula Geissler and a group of SS watched the hangings while downing bottles of good wine on the terrace of the Café Tivoli, listening to music on a gramophone.

[51] On 10 June, the hostages remaining at the weapons factory in Tulle were treated in the same manner as in the selection of the hanging victims the previous day: negotiations between members of the 2nd SS Panzer Division Das Reich and the SD, including Schmald, and the French authorities, divided them into groups destined for deportation and those who would be pardoned by interventions.

[62] According to the self-published accounts of the SS-Sturmbannführer Otto Weidinger, many dozen German soldiers were killed after their surrender and numerous cadavers bore evidence of mutilation.

[p] This thesis is repeated and amplified by two other revisionists, Sadi Schneid,[63] pseudonym of former Waffen-SS member Elimar Schneider,[64] and Herbert Taege, former official of the Hitler Youth.

The only fact was that it was contrary to articles 23c and 23d of the Annex of the Hague Convention of 1907 concerning the laws and customs of war on land[59] that state "It is especially prohibited [..] To kill or wound an enemy who, having laid down arms, or having no longer means of defence, has surrendered at discretion", that nine members of the SD and Gestapo were executed without trial on the afternoon of 8 June.

"[70] According to the book by Schneid, Kartheuser wrote that he "assigns, in the most heavy-handed manner of all versions that circulated, sufficient blame for the deliberate mutilations carried out on some German corpses.

[74] Until his death, Lammerding denied all responsibility for the massacre in Tulle, declaring instead that the initiative was taken by Kowatsch: "knowing the rigorous hierarchy and the terribly rigid discipline which reigned in the SS corps, such a statement is without merit.".

This text has aroused the indignation of the group "Maquis de Corrèze", headed by honorary member Pierre Pranchère, because its adoption amounted essentially to an amnesty for those responsible for the massacres at Tulle, Oradour-sur-Glane and Maillé.

[86] The publication of Trafics et crimes sous l'occupation aroused strong reactions from former members of the Waffen-SS, orchestrated by Otto Weidinger, in concert with Heinz Lammerding and Albert Stückler.

One of the German intermediaries, Helmut Grützmacher, agreed with that opinion in writing: "It is touching in a way to see how it works to preserve the division "Das Reich" and Germany in these tragic events by making Schmald and thus the Sicherheitsdienst [SS] responsible.