What was their heroic task? They concealed some 2.500 Jews and transported them to safety as the World War II Nazis swarmed through central France seeking to eradicate Jews and the underground. And the villagers did this knowing full well that anyone caught hiding Jews was subject to arrest. deportation. and even death. Le Chambon was the main way station in an underground railroad spanning convents and farms from southern France to Geneva. This small towns revered clandestine effort was led by Pastor Andre Trocme and his assistant. Edouard Theis. They collaborated with the American Quakers. the Salvation Army. and Cimade. an ecumenical service organization whose sole mission was to help refugees fleeIng from German occupation and persecution. Other towns within a 50mile radiusas Protestant as Le Chainbondid little to help refugees. Many Frenchmen willingly hid Jews when they happened by. But Pastors Trocme and Theis did more: They asked the Quakers to send refugees their way. The courageous deeds of Pastors Andre Trocme and Edouard Theis and the town people of Le Chambon remind us of everyones obligation to shield each and every person in the world from the scourge of persecution. The Chamboneses sensitivity to the oppression of others is the sense of Justice which built our great Nation and inspired the Constitution of the United States.
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deportation refugees