Le Chambon-sur-Lignon... Yesterday, I happened across the story of the French village of Le Chambon-sur-Lignon during WWII; despite all my reading about WWII, I had never heard the story before, and it's an inspiring one. The people of Le Chambon-sur-Lignon saved about 5,000 Jews from the Nazis, at great personal cost and at considerable risk to themselves. There are many stories like this from WWII, but this particular one was new to me, and notable for the number of people they saved.
But what really caught my eye was the mention that the residents of Le Chambon-sur-Lignon were mainly Huguenot – a French Protestant sect that had itself been much persecuted (by the French government). Their memory of that persecution was part of their motivation to save the Jews.
My ancestors, on my father's side, were Huguenot refugees from the town of La Touche, not very far from Le Chambon-sur-Lignon. They fled for their lives (quite literally), first to the Netherlands, then to England, and finally to America...
No comments:
Post a Comment