Tulle massacre
On July 9, the German troops of the Panzer division took revenge on the civilian population, for "supporting the resistance". First, all men between 18 and 45 years old were arrested. They were put in the courtyard of the local arms manufacturer, Manufacture nationale d’armes de Tulle. There there were told, that they would be hanged in the city, in rows of 120 people. Walter Schmald, a SD person from Belgium decided who would be hanged. Before taking his decision, he talked to high-ranking government officials of the Vichy regime. As these people were collaborating with the resistance movement, they could convince Schmald to spare their friends, and to lower the number from 120 to 99. Next the soldiers of the Panzerdivision hanged these 99 hostages, who were more or less picked at random. They used streetlights and balconies for hanging them.  Groups of residents were forced to watch the hangings. One of these groups was a group of about 600 teenagers, who were part of the Arbeitsdienst. Many high-ranking SS officials listened to music and amused themselves, while the soldiers were hanging the men. Both the people who were forced to watch, and those who were being executed probably heard the music.