Le Chambon - Weapons of the Spirit

WEAPONS OF THE SPIRIT

 For a clip from the documentary click here.

During the horrors of The Holocaust a small French mountain village Le Chambon-sur-Lignon was the safest place in Europe for Jews. Not one Jew was taken by the Nazis. A story of a 'conspiracy of goodness': an entire town which at great risk sheltered 5,000 Jews. Committed to deception of the enemy and preservation of life ..

In occupied France collaborators delivered 83,000 Jews, including 10,000 children, to the Nazi death camps - only 3,000 ever returned. But the residents of the area of Le Chambon, quietly took in and saved as many Jews as their entire population, who came to them for shelter and refuge.

Ordinary people, often poverty-stricken themselves, protected the Jews at the peril of their own lives. They took the Jews into their homes, fed and protected them, right under the noses of the Gestapo. Defying the Nazi régime and the French government that was collaborating with the Nazis, the villagers of the area of Le Chambon provided a safe haven throughout the war for the Jews. Every home hid strangers, not for days, but for years. So deep was their humanity that no resident of Le Chambon ever turned away, denounced, or betrayed a single Jewish refugee.

It all started one cold, dark evening during the winter of 1940-41 with a knock at the door of Andre Trocmé, the Protestant pastor of Le Chambon-sur-Lignon. He answered the door and there stood a hungry, cold woman. She was a Jewish refugee fleeing the Nazis, could she come in ?

The simple act of kindness became a beacon of hope for thousands of people fleeing the Vichy government and the Nazis during World War II. It is credited with inspiring a rescue effort that saved some 5,000 refugees - four years began when the citizens of Chambon welcomed Jewish refugees, sheltering them, educating their children, arranging for hundreds to escape to safety in Switzerland or Spain via a well-organized underground network.

Andre Trocmé showed the Chambonnais the most practical and effective way to resist Vichy and the Nazis. The refugees were welcomed without hesitation. They were housed in private homes, on farms as well as in public institutions and were hidden in the countryside whenever the Nazis came through. One of the villagers later recalled: 'As soon as the soldiers left, we would go into the forest and sing a song. When they heard that song, the Jews knew it was safe to come home.'e to hide such wide-scale rescue activities over time. They demanded The authorities knew what was taking place, since it was impossible to hide such wide-scale rescue activities over time. They demanded that the pastor cease his activities. His response was clear-cut: 'These people came here for help and for shelter. I am their shepherd. A shepherd does not forsake his flock. I do not know what a Jew is. I know only human beings.'

 For a survivor's testimony click here.