From May 18 – 23 the schedule is loosely defined.  A stop at Le Chambon-sur-Lignon is planned, and Erik plans to rent a road bike for two days of more robust cycling along roads made famous by the Tour de France.

The story of the small of Protestant Huguenot farming village of Le Chambon in the mountains of south-central France is compelling.  When France capitulated to Germany in June of 1940, the fate of French citizens and foreigners of Jewish ancestry was in doubt.  That very day, Pastor Andre Trocmé stood in the pulpit of his parish church to address his parishioners in Le Chambon:

“The responsibility of Christians is to resist the violence that will be brought to bear on their consciences, through the weapons of the spirit.”

Over the course of WW 2, the approximate 5,000 inhabitants of that valley and surrounding areas sheltered approximately 3,500 Jewish men, women, and children (in addition to 1,500 others) in direct opposition to the orders of the French Vichy government and Nazi occupation forces, for the duration of the war.  When Vichy authorities demanded that Pastor Trocmé cease his activities, he told them:

“These people came here for help and for shelter. I am their shepherd. A shepherd does not forsake his flock. I do not know what a Jew is. I know only human beings.”

Eventually, Trocmé was forced to hide from the Nazis.  But his wife continued his legacy and with the aid and encouragement of local residents many Jews resided in relative calm until the end of the war.  This story is powerfully documented in the film by Pierre Sauvage Weapons of the Spirit.  (Sauvage was born in Le Chambon and returned years later as an adult to try to understand what happened here and why.  Follow this LINK to view his interview with Bill Moyers about the film.)

Just before beginning my sabbatical, I (Erik) had the good fortune to exchange emails with Patrick Henry of Whitman College, a Holocaust scholar, who put me in touch with Nelly Trocmé Hewett, daughter of Andre and Magda Trocmé.  (How we got to that point is itself a story that I’ll tell more of some day.)  She told me of the existence of a new museum in Le Chambon, ( I thought they’d all closed), dedicated last summer (2013) that tells the story of what happened here.  Her words, received only days before we began this trip, made the prospect of being in Le Chambon infinitely more meaningful.  Le Chambon was not alone in its righteous conduct during that trying time.  A dozen or so communities small communities of the region shared in the ministry of sheltering Jewish refugees, at the risk of their own lives, thus embodying Jesus’ admonition, “Love your neighbor as your self.”

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Following our time in Le Chambon, we will travel south to Arles and use it as a home base for experience the history and culture of the Provence region before heading on to Italy.