First published 2015
Caroline Moorehead uncovers the remarkable wartime story of Le Chambon-sur-Lignon, a remote mountain village in France's Ardèche region. During the Nazi occupation, this small community accomplished something unprecedented: they rescued over 3,500 people from deportation to concentration camps, including thousands of Jewish children, resistance fighters, Freemasons, communists, and downed Allied pilots. The villagers maintained complete solidarity throughout the war years, with no betrayals or denunciations. When Gestapo raids threatened, children would flee to the forests with packed belongings, waiting for farmers' songs that signaled safety to return. Moorehead traveled globally to interview surviving rescuers and those they saved, accessing previously unseen archives to reconstruct this extraordinary rescue operation. The author of A Train in Winter reveals how ordinary people created an unprecedented network of protection, making Le Chambon one of only two locations worldwide honored by Yad Vashem as Righteous Among Nations. The book demonstrates the power of collective resistance against tyranny.
Genres: historical-fiction, 20th-century, world-war-ii, non-fiction
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: found-family, resistance
Setting: Ardèche, France, Le Chambon-sur-Lignon
Period: Nazi Occupation
384 pages · Paperback · Vintage Canada
Content warnings: death, violence, war