The Protestant churches on the Plateau were the organizational and motivational leaders of the efforts to rescue refugees and resist collaboration or complicity with the Vichy regime. Sunday services were packed and sermons promoted unity, morality and unwavering faith in the righteousness of their effort.

As the size and scope of the rescue on The Plateau grew, French police arrested Pastors Trocmé and Theis, as well as school director, Roger Darcissac, on February 13, 1943, and charged them with breaking Vichy laws. Held at the an internment camp near Limoges, they were released once Pastor Bœgner intervened. Although Darcissac was forced to sign a pledge of allegiance to the Vichy regime, the pastors refused since to do so would be to bear false witness. They were released nevertheless.

The local armed resistance was very active on the Plateau and included rescuers, refugees, and escapees from the Vichy forced labor brigades. Joseph Bass, a Jewish refugee, was very active and led the Service André, a Resistance unit.

Pressure from the Resistance and the Reformed Church of France forced Pastors Trocmé and Theis into exile from July 1943 until the Liberation in 1944. According to a Resistance double-agent, the Gestapo had put a price on the pastors’ heads, and the Reformed Church did not want any further trouble that might endanger the town, especially after Daniel Trocmé’s arrest.