My father was a very religious-
-dutiful child raised in a
strict, Calvinist family.
He was...he knew his Bible.
And when he saw the disaster of
the First Word War soldiers-
whether French or German,
walking through his town of-
St. Quentin with disastrous
wounds, bleeding-
half of a face torn off-
-limbs missing.
The smell of rotten flesh, he
decided right there-
-at a very young age,
that war was not a good thing.
That you wouldn't accomplish
anything by fighting like that.
My father was a pastor--very
busy running the church. 
My mother was busy running a
large household-
with borders and roomers and
four kids and teaching Italian.
The conditions in which we lived
in Sin-le-Noble were terrible-
there was no running water
in the parsonage.
You had to go down to this
churchyard out on the street-
in the next yard and pump
the water.
It was cold water and she
had four kids.
When we arrived in Chambon I
was only seven.
We arrived in the spring of '34.
I didn't know why my parents,
you know, I was seven-
didn't discuss why my father was
found out or-
could find a church that would
accept him-
because he was not accepted by
two other churches-
which wanted him.
But the administration of the
church said-
“Nuh-uh, he's a pacifist. You
cannot have him as a minister.” 
So, he ended up as a-
temporary minister in a place
on this white, cold plateau-
in this small village and they
just had to adjust. 
But my impression was of a sad,
drab village.
There was not even a flowerpot
on the square.
It was...I had a negative
impression, I must say-
a sad impression, not
negative, sad. 
A plateau 3,000 feet high with
very poor volcanic soil-
and they just developed farming,
very poor farming. Small farms.
They were pretty much 
self-sufficient.
And they were very religious-
and they had reading of the
Bible in their houses-
and so they were way ahead of
other farmers-
because many of the French
farmers-
at the time did not read.
And so they had informed-
and when the war came they
were informed.
they could read, they could hear
the news, they could-
they were very
intellectually savvy. 
Deuteronomy speaks, Chapter 19-
speaks of creating cities
of refuge:
“Lest innocent blood be shed.”
And so the center of that
declaration-
is the following one:
“The duty of Christians is to
resist the violence-
directed at our consciences-
with the weapons of the spirit.”
Not guns, but the ‘weapons of
the spirit.'
“We appeal to all our brothers
in Christ to refuse-
to agree or cooperate in
violence-
especially in the coming days."
"We will resist when our enemies
demand that we act in ways that-
go against the teaching of
the Gospel."
"We will resist without fear-
without pride, and without
hatred.”
That was the heart of
that declaration. 
It was probably the first
public-
speech of resistance in the
whole of France.
It gave them hope, that
presentation-
that speech gave them hope.
Because everybody was so-
destroyed by the German invasion
and by this armistice-
but it gave new hope to people.
And I think that's a situation,
we probably...
that's why my father remained a
sort of a leader-
a catalyst of the idea
of resistance-
of non-violence.
That didn't mean that he ran the
show.
But he knew quite a bit of
activities and he-
he remained a catalyst and a
person that people listened to.
The subjects were brought up-
and all the themes of rescue
were talked about.
“We insist to inform you
that there are, among us-
a certain number of Jews."
"But, we don't make any 
difference-
between ‘Jews' and ‘non-Jews."
"It is against our religious
teaching."
"If our friends, whose only
fault is-
to be born in a different
religion-
would receive the order to let
themselves be deported-
or even registered-
they will disobey to the orders
received-
and we will do our best to
hide them.”
The refugees arrived either by
old-
rickety buses or by the
narrow-gauged train.
Sometimes they arrived on foot
or on bicycles.
But the biggest number arrived
that way.
So, it was a trickling,
disorganized trickling in-
by any means that you
can imagine.
Le Chambon was like a large
campus-
there was no police on location.
So the Jews could circulate
like they wanted.
You know, they could go out,
they could go to the store-
so they were like us.
There were kids around and they
were kids enjoying sports-
enjoying the chorus,
going to school-
because Monsieur Theis found
scholarships for them-
to go to school, free
of charge. 
We never questioned the name.
We never asked somebody,
“Where are you from?” 
Or, “Why do you...What is your
native language?”
And we never questioned-
“Where are you from?” or “Who
are you? Are you Jewish?” 
No.  And during recess we
played in the snow.
Everybody left at the end of the
war-
except two refugees that
I can recall.
The majority went back to their
previous life.
They had a life before.
That was just a very sad
parentheses for them.
So I kept up with a few who
kept up with me.
But who also came back to
Chambon in order to-
put on the wall a plaque of-
some Hebrew and in French,
thanking the people of the area-
for protecting Jews during
the war.
I was fascinated. I realized
the-
extraordinary conditions under
which I grew up.
The extraordinary people who
were in the village.
All the happenings were just
extraordinary.
Ever since there is recorded
human history-
there have been Holocausts
and genocides. 
All over the world-
there have been populations
fighting for power-
and trying to eradicate other
populations-
different from themselves.
There's nothing new.
The trouble is that the human
animal hasn't progressed yet.
We still do it...in a
different way. 
There is no crime during war.
War is crime.
Life is always full of very
good things and very sad things.
I mean, you know, nothing is
pure joy or perfection.
But looking back, I am able to
see all the good things...
...and I'm trying to forget the
bad things.
