Commune in Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes, France
Le Chambon-sur-Lignon
(
French pronunciation:
[l?
???b??
sy?
li???]
, literally "Le Chambon on
Lignon
";
Auvergnat
:
Lo Chambon
) is a
commune
in the
Haute-Loire
department
in south-central France.
Residents have been primarily
Huguenot
or Protestant since the 17th century. During
World War II
these Huguenot residents made the commune a haven for
Jews
fleeing from the Nazis. They hid them both within the town and in the countryside, and helped them flee to neutral Switzerland. In 1990 the town was one of two collectively honoured as the
Righteous Among the Nations
by
Yad Vashem
in Israel for saving Jews in
Nazi
-occupied Europe. The other awardee was the Dutch village of
Nieuwlande
.
Geography
[
edit
]
The town lies in the middle of the commune, on the right bank of the
Lignon du Velay
, which flows north-northwestward through the commune and forms part of its northwestern border.
World War II
[
edit
]
During World War II, throughout France, the Nazis and the collaborationist
Vichy regime
were rounding up Jews and sending them to the
death camps
.
Under the leadership of local Protestant minister Pastor
Andre Trocme
, and his deputy pastor
Edouard Theis
[
fr
]
, the citizens of the village of Le Chambon-sur-Lignon risked their lives to rescue and hide Jews in private homes, on farms in the area, as well as in public institutions. Whenever the Nazi patrols came searching, the Jews were hidden in the mountainous countryside.
After the war, one of the villagers 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." The situation took a more tense turn when the Germans invaded the South Zone in 1942. Local people continued to protect the Jews in open defiance of the authorities. For instance, they gave
Vichy
Youth Minister
Georges Lamirand
[
fr
]
a petition against the deportation of the Jews when he visited the village in 1942.
[3]
[4]
In addition to providing shelter, the citizens of the town obtained forged identification and ration cards for Jews to use. They helped them cross the border to the safety of neutral Switzerland. Some of the residents were arrested by the
Gestapo
such as Rev. Trocme's cousin, Daniel Trocme, who was sent to
Maidanek
concentration camp
, where he was murdered.
It was estimated that the people of the area of Le Chambon-sur-Lignon saved between 3,000 and 5,000 Jews from certain death.
Present day
[
edit
]
The ethos and practice of sheltering refugees continues, with migrants coming from many war zones, including
Congo
,
Libya
,
Rwanda
,
South Sudan
,
Kosovo
and
Chechnya
.
[5]
In 2021 the commune was bequeathed around €2m by Eric Schwam who was hidden in a school in 1943 and remained until 1950.
[6]
Population
[
edit
]
Historical population
Year
| Pop.
| ±% p.a.
|
---|
1793
| 1,730
| ?
|
---|
1821
| 1,740
| +0.02%
|
---|
1846
| 2,280
| +1.09%
|
---|
1872
| 2,155
| ?0.22%
|
---|
1901
| 2,670
| +0.74%
|
---|
1926
| 2,593
| ?0.12%
|
---|
1946
| 3,202
| +1.06%
|
---|
1962
| 3,096
| ?0.21%
|
---|
1968
| 2,846
| ?1.39%
|
---|
| Year
| Pop.
| ±% p.a.
|
---|
1975
| 2,811
| ?0.18%
|
---|
1982
| 2,791
| ?0.10%
|
---|
1990
| 2,854
| +0.28%
|
---|
1999
| 2,642
| ?0.85%
|
---|
2007
| 2,662
| +0.09%
|
---|
2012
| 2,609
| ?0.40%
|
---|
2017
| 2,470
| ?1.09%
|
---|
2020
| 2,420
| ?0.68%
|
---|
|
Source: EHESS
[7]
and INSEE (1968-2017)
[8]
|
Honors
[
edit
]
- In 1981 the entire town was awarded an honorary degree by
Haverford College
in
Pennsylvania
in recognition of its humanitarian efforts.
- In 1982, documentary filmmaker
Pierre Sauvage
? who was born and sheltered in Le Chambon ? returned there to film
Weapons of the Spirit
[9]
(1989).
- In 1990, for risking their lives to rescue Jews, the entire town was recognized as "
Righteous Among the Nations
". A small garden and plaque on the grounds of the
Yad Vashem
memorial to the
Holocaust
in Israel was dedicated to the people of Chambon-sur-Lignon.
- In 2004 French President
Jacques Chirac
officially recognized the heroism of the town.
[10]
[11]
The Pont-de-Mars Castle in Le Chambon-sur-Lignon
In January 2007 they were honoured along with the other French Righteous Among the Nations in a ceremony at the
Pantheon
in Paris.
[10]
Eric Schwam, an Austrian man who fled the Nazis with his family during the Second World War and found refuge in the village, bequeathed approximately €2 million for the village.
[12]
Education
[
edit
]
The town of Chambon-sur-Lignon was home to
Le College-Lycee Cevenol International
, a private boarding school founded in 1938 by local Protestant ministers
Andre Trocme
and Edouard Theis. The school closed its doors in 2014 due to financial troubles and declining enrollment, three years after the rape and murder of a 14-year-old student.
[13]
Personalities
[
edit
]
Alexander Grothendieck
, a central figure of 20th-century mathematics, was among the Jewish children sheltered during the war.
The paternal grandfather of actor
Timothee Chalamet
was from the town.
[14]
Chambon Sur Lignon is the French home of British/American Evangelist Graham Jones
Popular culture
[
edit
]
Malcolm Gladwell
uses Chambon-sur-Lignon in his book
David and Goliath
as an example of how the rebellious origin of its people influenced their actions when protecting Jewish people during the Second World War.
The town also appears in the last book French author
Romain Gary
published before his death,
The Kites
, and recounts the bravery of its inhabitants in the face of danger.
Twin towns
[
edit
]
Notes
[
edit
]
- ^
"Repertoire national des elus: les maires"
(in French). data.gouv.fr, Plateforme ouverte des donnees publiques francaises. 13 September 2022.
- ^
"Populations legales 2021"
(in French).
The National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies
. 28 December 2023.
- ^
Mordecai Paldiel
,
Churches and the Holocaust: Unholy Teaching, Good Samaritans, and Reconciliation,
KTAV Publishing House
, Inc., 2006,
ISBN
9780881259087
,443 pages, p.116
- ^
See also: Gladwell, Malcolm. David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits, and the Art of Battling Giants. New York: Little, Brown and Company, 2013.
- ^
Levine, Joshua (July?August 2018).
"The Dispossessed: This French Town Has Welcomed Refugees for 400 Years"
.
Smithsonian Magazine
. Photographs by Lucian Perkins. p. 76.
- ^
Saint-Etienne, Agence France-Presse in (29 January 2021).
"Man leaves €2m to French village that hid his family from Nazis"
.
the Guardian
. Retrieved
29 January
2021
.
- ^
Des villages de Cassini aux communes d'aujourd'hui
:
Commune data sheet Le Chambon-sur-Lignon
,
EHESS
(in French)
.
- ^
Population en historique depuis 1968
, INSEE
- ^
Weapons of the Spirit
- ^
a
b
Jacques Chirac Honors French World War II Saviors
,
European Jewish Congress
, 11 April 2007.
- ^
Sauvage, Pierre (8 October 2004).
"Among the Villagers of Le Chambon"
.
The Forward
. Retrieved
6 April
2019
.
- ^
"Man leaves €2m to French village that hid his family from Nazis"
.
The Guardian
. 29 January 2021
. Retrieved
29 January
2021
.
- ^
"Affaire Agnes : Le college Cevenol ferme ses portes"
. 10 February 2014.
- ^
"Timothee Chalamet, petit-fils d'un pasteur du Chambon-sur-Lignon, en lice pour l'Oscar du meilleur acteur"
.
France Bleu
(in French). 2 March 2018.
References
[
edit
]
- Gladwell, Malcolm (2013).
David and Goliath : underdogs, misfits, and the art of battling giants
. New York: Little, Brown and Company.
ISBN
978-0-316-20436-1
.
- Grose, Peter (2015).
A Good Place to Hide: How One French Community Saved Thousands Of Lives During World War II
.
New York
: Pegasus Books LLC.
ISBN
978-1-60598-692-0
.
- Hallie, Philip P (1979).
Lest Innocent Blood Be Shed: The Story of Le Chambon and How Goodness Happened There
.
New York
: Harper & Row.
ISBN
0-06-011701-X
.
- Sauvage, Pierre (1989).
Weapons of the Spirit (Les armes de l'esprit)
(Documentary). USA/France: Chambon Foundation.
Aired in the United States by the
PBS
.
- Matas, Carol
(1 April 1998).
Greater Than Angels
.
New York
: Simon & Schuster.
ISBN
0-689-81353-8
.
A book for youngsters.
- Moorehead, Caroline
(2014).
Village of Secrets: Defying the Nazis in Vichy France
. New York, NY: Harper, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers.
ISBN
978-0-06-220247-5
.
- Paxson, Maggie (2019).
The Plateau
. New York: Riverhead Press.
ISBN
9781594634758
.
- Semelin, Jacques (2013).
Persecutions et entraides dans la France occupee : comment 75 % des juifs de France ont echappe a la mort
(in French). Paris: Seuil Arenes.
ISBN
978-2-35204-235-8
.
See also
[
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]
External links
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]
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