Village of Secrets

I have known for a long time that the persecution of the Jews in Nazi-occupied France was not the sole prerogative of the Germans and that much of the French establishment enthusiastically involved itself in the betrayal, detection, removal, and elimination of Jewish citizens, including children.

What I found out, through this book is that amidst the prevailing anti-Semitism, there were those willing to put their own lives at risk in order to save those of others. 

This book is the true story of almost an entire community in an isolated village who sheltered Jewish children until they could be… show more.

The story of Le Chambon-sur-Lignon has become famous for its amazing story of harboring French Jews and others the Nazis deemed enemies as they tried to escape the German occupation. Moorehead re-examines a longstanding culture of resistance, community identity, and local leadership that made the town’s actions legendary. But her discussion of the complexities of memory and myth-making in the years that followed force us to rethink the boundaries and limits of both resistance and collaboration.