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While the Germans were killing the men of Oradour, the women had been locked in the church. At approximately five o'clock, two soldiers came in and placed a large chest on the altar. They retreated laying out a long fuse, which they lit before shutting the door. Moments later the chest exploded, releasing clouds of suffocating smoke and blowing out some of the church windows. In the ensuing chaos, the soldiers opened the door and sprayed the group with gunfire. They piled flammable material on some of the bodies, set a bonfire with the church pews, and abandoned the building.
Madame Marguerite Rouffanche, the lone survivor of the massacre of the women and children in the Oradour-sur-Glane church, escaped by leaping from the middle window behind the main altar.
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