“Death creates an economy that makes life precious. One of the ways of naming that preciousness is friendship.”
Stanley Hauerwas

Rescue and resistance on the plateau: Why an isolated French community saved thousands of Jews during World War II

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Leadership

This inspired leadership of the pastors of the plateau is an important factor that accounts for the extent of the rescue. The Pastors of the region lead by example. They harbored refugees in their own homes and urged their congregations to rescue as part of their Christian duty - emphasizing that Vichy laws were illegal because they violated God’s laws. 

During the war, sermons focused on such biblical passages as Deuteronomy 19:10, ‘I command you to protect the refugee, lest innocent blood be shed.’ Sermons looked not only at negative commands that require one to avoid doing harm but positive ones such as ‘seek justice, share your bread with the hungry, bring the homeless poor into your house’ (Isaiah 58: 7). Overall, the call to action in favour of the weak and the vulnerable, was seen as being at the heart of Christian calling.  
  Le Chambon represents courage in the face of grave threat
  

Conclusion

The woeful record of the churches under Hitler needs to be addressed and acknowledged. There are lessons for the churches in the Holocaust – lessons that are ignored to its peril.  But at the same time it is imperative that the actions of those who resisted or rescued for reasons of faith be understood. As Gushee points out:

  Christian rescuers knew something that all Christians should have known: that embedded in Christian faith is a compelling manifesto for resistance and rescue, and living power to motivate and sustain such behaviour. This manifesto and these resources are drawn not from the margins but from the living centre of Christian faith. 
 

Indeed the rescuers well understood what Jesus saw as being at the heart of faith – to love God and to love one’s neighbour as oneself – a concept deeply rooted in the Jewish Old Testament and expounded in his Parable of the Good Samaritan. There is no doubt that in other parts of Europe, the church failed dismally in its response to the Nazi threat. Yet the story of La Montagne Protestant offers a sharp and impressive contrast. It represents the beauty of courage in the face of grave threat; selflessness and integrity at a time when pragmatic self-preservation was the order of the day. It meant thousands of innocent victims were given a chance at life, escaping the horrors of the concentration camps. It is a bright chapter in the Christian story that offers a glimpse of the core of the faith correctly understood and genuinely lived out.     

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Bronwen Hanna has a degree in history and political science.
This is a revised version of an address she gave at the Micah Challenge conference in Sydney in March. She visited Le Chambon in September last year is grateful to Nelly Trocmé Hewett for her helpful comments on this article.


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14-Jan-2009 05:00 PM Anonymous 5 out of 5 stars
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28-Feb-2010 02:21 PM 5 out of 5 stars
This should help greatly for tomorrow's sermon! Thanks!

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