Category:Le Chambon-sur-Lignon (subject)

Le Chambon-sur-Lignon (see Holocaust Children Studies)

Overview

During the Holocaust in France, in a tiny mountain Huguenot village 350 miles from Paris called Le Chambon-sur-lignon, 5,000 Jews, mostly children, found shelter with 5,000 Christians, almost the entire population of the village.

Defying the French government which was collaborating with the Nazis, the villagers of Le Chambon hid Jews in their homes for years. They provided the refugees with forged identification, provided education for the children, ration cards, and sent them to safety in Switzerland.

The Chambonnaise were descendants of the Huguenots, the first Protestants in Catholic France. Having endured persecution in France they were able to understand the plight of the Jews.

Under the leadership of a young French pastor, Andre Trocme, the people of Le Chambon felt it their duty to help people in need, never considering their actions heroic or dangerous.

Bibliography

• Deborah Durland DeSaix and Karen Gray Ruelle, Hidden on the Mountain: Stories of Children Sheltered from the Nazis in Le Chambon. Holiday House, 2007

Memoirs

• François Lecomte. I Will Never Be 14 Years Old: Le Chambon-Sur-Lignon and My Second Life. Beach Lloyd Publishers, LLC, 2009.

• Renée Kann Silver and Connie Colker Steiner. And Yet, I Still Loved France. Mable House Ed., 2012

External links