Village of Scoundrels
Page 20
Switzerland closes all of its borders to Jewish refugees.
NOV. 8
Allies begin invasion of North Africa
NOV. 11
Germans invade and occupy southern zone of France. The whole of France is now occupied by Germany.
DEC.
Police officer Praly arrives in Le Chambon.
Convalescing German soldiers are biletted in a local hotel in Le Chambon.
1943
JAN. 24
Germans destroy the old port of Marseilles (in southern France).
FEB. 13
Pastors Trocmé and Theis and public school director Roger Darcissac are arrested in Le Chambon.
FEB. 25
Officer Praly conducts first raid in Le Chambon.
MAR. 15–16
The pastors and school director are released, Trocmé goes into hiding.
JUNE 29
Plainclothes German police conduct a raid on the House of Rocks, one of the guesthouses in Le Chambon, arresting the director and eighteen students—all sent to various Nazi concentration camps.
JULY 9
Allies reach Sicily.
AUG. 6
Officer Praly shot and killed by the resistance in Le Chambon
1944
JUNE 6
D-Day landings in Normandy, on the northern coast of France, beginning the campaign to liberate northern Europe from German occupation.
AUG. 15
French and Allied troops land in Provence (in southern France), marking the beginning of progressive liberation of France by Allies, French armies and Resistance.
AUG. 24–25
The liberation of Paris. Germans surrender.
SEPT. 1
French forces reach le Chambon.
1945
MAY 7
Germany surrenders to the Allies, ending the war in Europe.
SEPT. 2
Japan surrenders to the Allies, ending the war in Asia.
* This timeline is based on actual historical events.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
* Recommended for young readers
** Books or documentaries specifically concerning Le Chambonsur-Lignon and its residents
*** Recommended for young readers and specifically concerning Le Chambon-sur-Lignon and its residents
BOOKS
Camus, Albert. Notebooks 1942–1951. Translated by Justin O’Brien. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1965.
*** Durland DeSaix, Deborah, and Karen Gray Ruelle. Hidden on the Mountain: Stories of Children Sheltered from the Nazis in Le Chambon. New York: Holiday House, 2007.
* Greenfeld, Howard. The Hidden Children. Boston: Houghton-Mifflin, 1993.
** Grose, Peter. A Good Place to Hide: How One French Village Saved Thousands of Lives During World War II. New York: Pegasus Books, 2015.
** Hallie, Philip. Lest Innocent Blood Be Shed: The Story of the Village of Le Chambon and How Goodness Happened There. New York: Harper Perennial, 1979.
Halls, W. D. The Youth of Vichy France. Oxford, UK: Clarendon Press, 1981.
Johnson, Eric A., and Karl-Heinz Reuband. What We Knew: Terror, Mass Murder, and Everyday Life in Nazi Germany; an Oral History. New York: Basic Books, 2005.
Kaminsky, Sarah. Adolfo Kaminsky: A Forger’s Life. Los Angeles: DoppelHouse Press, 2016.
** Kann Silver, Renée, and Connie Colker Steiner. And Yet, I Still Loved France: Memoir of a European Childhood. Rego Park, NY: Marble House Editions, 2012. (Renée’s and her sister’s WWII experiences include a stay at a farm on the plateau.)
Kedward, H. R. In Search of the Maquis: Rural Resistance in Southern France, 1942–1944. Oxford, UK: Clarendon Press, 1993.
Lazare, Lucien. Rescue as Resistance: How Jewish Organizations Fought the Holocaust in France. New York: Columbia University Press, 1996.
* Leapman, Michael. Witnesses to War: Eight True-life Stories of Nazi Persecution. New York: Viking, 1998.
** Lecomte, François. Translated by Jacques P. Trocmé. I Will Never Be Fourteen Years Old: Le Chambon-sur-Lignon & My Second Life. Wayne, PA: Beach Lloyd, 2009.
Lowrie, Donald A. The Hunted Children. New York: W. W. Norton, 1963.
*** Matas, Carol. Greater Than Angels. New York: Simon Pulse, 1999.
Samuel, Vivette. Rescuing the Children: A Holocaust Memoir. Madison, WI: University of Wisconsin Press, 2002.
Stroud, Dean G., ed. Preaching in Hitler’s Shadow: Sermons of Resistance in the Third Reich. Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans, 2013.
Trocmé, André. Angels and Donkeys: Tales for Christmas and Other Times. Translated by Nelly Trocmé Hewett. Intercourse, PA: Good Books, 1998.
Weitz, Margaret Collins. Sisters in the Resistance: How Women Fought to Free France, 1940–1945. New York: John Wiley & Sons, 1995.
FILM AND TELEVISION DOCUMENTARIES
L’oeil de Vichy (The Eye of Vichy). Directed by Claude Chabrol, FIT Production (Firm), Institut national de l’audiovisuel (France), TF1 Films Production, First-Run Features Home Video (Firm) (Film release, 1993; DVD release, 2003).
The Sorrow and the Pity. Directed by Marcel Ophuls. 1969; Chatsworth, CA: Milestone Film & Video, 2001. DVD.
** Weapons of the Spirit. Directed by Pierre Sauvage. 1989; Chambon Foundation, remastered 2014. The 2019 thirtieth-anniversary edition and abridged classroom version is available at www.chambon.org/weapons_en.htm.
EXHIBIT
** Conspiracy of Goodness: How French Protestants Rescued Thousands of Jews During WWII. Exhibit at the Kupferberg Holocaust Center, Queensborough Community College, Queens, NY. Fall 2017. On view on the website: khc.qcc.cuny.edu.
MUSEUM
** Lieu de Mémoire au Chambon (A Place of Memory); Le Chambon-sur-Lignon, France, www.memoireduchambon.com/en/.
IMAGE CREDITS
This page © AD Haute-Loire.
This page courtesy Catherine Cambessédès Colburn.
This page Peter Grose: Private Collection.
This page Private Collection of Hanne and Max Liebmann.
This page Private Collection of Hanne and Max Liebmann (donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum).
This page Weapons of the Spirit (Chambon Foundation).
This page © Fonds privé.
This page © Fonds Darcissac/Commune du Chambon-sur-Lignon.
This page United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, courtesy of Hanna Meyer-Moses.
This page United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, courtesy of Jack Lewin.
This page Weapons of the Spirit (Chambon Foundation).
This page © Fonds Darcissac/Commune du Chambon-sur-Lignon.
This page Weapons of the Spirit (Chambon Foundation).
This page courtesy of Lieu de Memoire.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
First and foremost, I am indebted to those who shared their stories with me, including Max and Hanne Liebmann, Renée Kann Silver, Catherine Cambessédès Colburn, Rolande Lombard, and Nelly Trocmé Hewett, all of whom lived or were sheltered on the plateau during the War. My thanks and apologies for whatever I got wrong.
Both Rolande and Nelly described sledding down the main street despite the disapproval of the garde champêtre, as well as other “folkloric details,” as Nelly put it. It was one of Nelly’s brothers who, when he went to buy food from the farms, brought along a frying pan and matches. Too hungry to make it all the way home, he would stop and cook himself a snack. Nelly herself confesses to sneaking spoonfuls of chestnut ‘‘paste’’ (sweetened pureed chestnuts) from the pantry.
Nelly also gave me a kind of letter of introduction to the good people of Le Chambon-sur-Lignon, where my traveling companions and I toured the Lieu de Mémoire (Memorial museum) with city councilor Denise Vallat; met mayor Madame Wauquiez-Mott; viewed an exhibit at the train station with Claire Souvignet; peeked in on Oscar Rosowsky’s room at the former Héretier farm; got a tour of “La Guespy,” the house where Hanne lived; took a dip in the Lignon; and got lost in the woods.
&n
bsp; All of this (including getting lost) was thanks to my ex-pat cousin, Joel Preus, who served as driver, translator, interpreter, aide-de-camp (and aide de camping), research assisant, manuscript critiquer, and steady supplier of laughs. He and his sister, ma chère cousine Mary, are always excellent companions. Joel and his wife Christine Lenfant, contributed advice about all things French, as well as many names (including Jules “La Crapule”). Another French-speaking relative, Catherine Preus, is responsible for the pronunciation guide. Je vous dois une fière chandelle.
Thank you to the many people who read and commented on early drafts—including Nelly Trocmé Hewett, numerous relatives, and many Duluth and Atsokan Island writer friends who read all or part of the manuscript in various states of disarray. Comment puis-je vous remercier?
I would also like to thank others who have told this story before me and who generously helped me locate photos and offered information, including Karen Ruelle and Debra De-Saix, authors of Hidden on the Mountain, and Pierre Sauvage and his enlightening documentary Weapons of the Spirit. Look for the 2019 thirtieth-anniversary edition of the remastered documentary, along with an abridged classroom version. Thank you, too, to Peter Grose for his excellent book A Good Place to Hide, for permission to use his translation of the “rules” recited to those who were smuggled to Switzerland, and for the photo and story of Oscar Rosowsky’s jacket, as well as many other stories you can find in his book.
As ever, a big merci beaucoup to my agent, Stephen Fraser, and a grosse bise to everyone at Amulet/Abrams who made this book happen: Hana Anouk Nakamura, Evangelos Vasilakis, Marie Oishi, Emily Daluga, Sara Sproull, and S. M. Vidaurri for the evocative illustrations. To my patient editor, Howard Reeves, mes sincères remerciements.
To those whom I have forgotten, my apologies, and merci beaucoup.
OTHER BOOKS OF INTRIGUE AND ADVENTURE BY MARGI PREUS
HEART OF A SAMURAI
Newbery Honor book
New York Times bestseller
NPR Backseat Book Club pick
“It’s a classic fish-out-of-water story (although this fish goes into the water repeatedly), and it’s precisely this classic structure that gives the novel the sturdy bones of a timeless tale.”
—Booklist, starred review
“Capturing his wonder, remarkable willingness to learn, the prejudice he encountered and the way he eventually influenced officials in Japan to open the country, this highly entertaining page-turner . . . is a captivating . . . retelling of the boy’s adventures.”
—Kirkus Reviews, starred review
“Stunning debut novel. Preus places readers in the young man’s shoes, whether he is on a ship or in a Japanese prison. Her deftness in writing is evident in two poignant scenes, one in which Manjiro realizes the similarities between the Japanese and the Americans and the other when he reunites with his Japanese family.”
—School Library Journal, starred review
WEST OF THE MOON
“Like dun silk shot through with gold, Preus interweaves the mesmerizing tale of Astri’s treacherous and harrowing mid-nineteenth-century emigration to America with bewitching tales of magic.”
—Booklist, starred review
“History, fiction and folklore intertwine seamlessly in this lively, fantastical adventure and moving coming-of-age story.”
—Kirkus Reviews, starred review
“Enthralling and unflinching, this historical tale resonates with mythical undertones that will linger with readers after the final page is turned.”
—School Library Journal, starred review
“[A] fast-paced, lyrically narrated story, which features a protagonist as stalwart and fearless as any fairy-tale hero.”
—The Horn Book, starred review
SHADOW ON THE MOUNTAIN
“Preus infuses the story with the good-natured humor of a largely unified, peace-loving people trying to keep their sanity in a world gone awry.”
—Kirkus Reviews, starred review
“Preus masterfully weds a story of friendship with the complications faced by 14-year-old Espen and his friends as Nazi restrictions and atrocities become part of their everyday lives . . . This is at once a spy thriller, a coming-of-age story, and a chronicle of escalating bravery.”
—School Library Journal, starred review
“A closely researched historical novel . . . relates this wartime tale with intelligence and humor . . . Ms. Preus deftly fuses together historical fact (Espen is based on a real-life spy) and elements of Norwegian culture to conjure a time and place not so terribly long ago.”
—The Wall Street Journal
“The final chapters, which chronicle Espen’s dramatic escape to Sweden . . . take the book into adventure-thriller territory without losing the humanity that characterizes Preus’s account.”
—The Horn Book
THE BAMBOO SWORD
“Middle-grade readers eager for adventure with a solid grounding in history will be enchanted.”
—Booklist, starred review
“Thanks to the lively, warm, and witty storyteller’s voice and the vivid, sensuous depictions of the katana swish and kimono swirl of 19th-century Japan, readers will feel immersed in this tumultuous time in Japanese history.”
—Kirkus Reviews
Photo Credit: Leslie Plesser
Margi Preus is the author of the Newbery Honor book Heart of a Samurai and other books for young readers, which have been honored as ALA/ALSC Notable Children’s Books, been selected by NPR Backseat Book Club, won multiple awards, and landed on the New York Times bestseller list. At home in Duluth, Minnesota, she likes to ski, hike, canoe, or sit quietly with a book in her lap.
Margi stumbled upon a snippet of this story when researching her World War II story Shadow on the Mountain and was captivated by the tale of the village where, when the gendarmes came hunting, the Jewish children hidden in their midst were sent into the forest to hide. When the danger passed, the village children sang a song to let their hidden friends know it was safe to come out of hiding.
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