Haapalah / Aliyah Bet

Le Chambon-sur-Lignon, primarily a Huguenot town, was a haven for Jews fleeing the Nazis during World War II.
When the deportations began in France in 1942, les Chambonais, the citizens of Chambon-sur-Lignon, hid Jews, being rounded up by the SS, for transportation to death camps.
Led by local minister André Trocmé and pastor Edouard Theis, founders of Le Collège-Lycée Cévenol International, who urged his congregation to give shelter to any Jew who should ask for it. les Chambonais hid Jews in private homes, on farms in the area, as well as in public institutions.
Les Chambonais obtained forged identification and ration cards for Jews, and helped them cross the border to the safety of neutral Suisse.
The American Friends Service Committee (Quakers) and other Protestant organizations and Catholic clergy provided assistance to Chambon-sur-Lignon to set up homes for children whose parents had been deported.
The Vichy authorities suspected what was taking place;and they demanded that André Trocmé cease his activities, to which he responded:
"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."
Neither pressure from the authorities nor searches by the security agents diminished the resolve of André Trocmé, his wife, Magda, and their team, and they did not stop their aid to the Jewish refugees.
On August 15, 1942, André Trocmé vehemently articulated his opinions to Georges Lamirand, minister in the Vichy government on an official visit to the small town.
Days later, gendarmes entered Le Chambon-sur-Lignon, to purge the town of its “illegal” alien residents.
It is estimated that les Chambonais saved between 3,000-5,000 Jews.

After the German invasion in 1940, la Cimade was active in underground work that provided protection for Jews in France.
By December, 1940, la Cimade was present in internment camps in the South of France, such as Gurs, Rivesaltes and Milles.
The organization opened refugee centres, such as Côteau fleuri, near Chambon sur Lignon.

Between 1941 and 1942, Swiss Aid founded three childrens' homes in Le Chambon-sur-Lignon, La Guepsy, Abric and Faïdoli.

In 1990, the entire town of Le Chambon-sur-Lignon was honored as Righteous among the Nations חסידי אומות העולם‎, for their humanitarianism and bravery under extreme danger.
A small garden and plaque on the grounds of Yad vaShem יד ושם‎‎ memorial to the Holocaust was dedicated to the citizens of Chambon-sur-Lignon.

In 2004, President Jacques Chirac officially recognized the heroism of Le Chambon-sur-Lignon,
In January 2007, at the Panthéon in Paris, they were honored along with the other French Righteous Among the Nations.