back to reflect
During Georges Lamirand was visiting, a young Protestants threw a letter
The visit of Vichy’s Minister of Youth Affairs, Georges Lamirand, during which young Protestants threw a letter—believed to have been written by Pastor Trocmé—at him saying that they would not reveal the names of any Jews in the village.
Photo of Charles Guillon, the paster in Le Chambon
Mayor of Le Chambon, Charles Guillon was originally the pastor before André Trocmé. He was instrumental in getting money from Switzerland to the Plateau during the War to help accommodate refugees.
A leader of Roman Catholic church
Jules Cardinal Saliège, Catholic archbishop of Toulouse, a champion of human rights and dignity, wrote a letter sent to his entire archdiocese to be read from the pulpit denouncing the persecution of Jews.
Deportation from Germany bound for Gurs
Operation Bürckel, when over 6,000 Jews in border regions of Germany were arrested and deported to Gurs Internment Camp
House of Roches
La Maison des Roches (House of Rocks) was a residence for older students in their early 20s. On June 29, 1943, the Gestapo raided the house and arrested 18 students. None of the arrested Jews survived. Their instructor, Daniel Trocmé, was also arrested and died in captivity. This was the only mass arrest on the Plateau Vivarais-Lignon.
Celebrating the Liberation at the town hall
Celebrating the Liberation on May 8, 1945, at the town hall of Le Chambon

Authority and Morality

Does the story of Le Chambon affect your moral outlook in any way? Have you ever defied authority because it was the right thing to do?
reflection

Throughout the Plateau, pastors called for resistance to Vichy’s anti-Jewish laws. Pastor André Bettex of nearby Le Mazet-St. Voy, declared, “The measures taken against the Jews are illegal. Conscience can only revolt around such measures. Our duty is to rescue them, hide them, and to save them by every means possible. I enlist you to do this.” Similarly, Pastor Roland Leenhardt of Tence declared, “Jews are being terrorized by the French…We must fight against the measures taken against the Jews.”