In the village of Le Chambon-sur-Lignon, a Protestant community in the mountains of southern France, the entire village conspired to hide Jewish refugees and resistance fighters. Led by Pastor Andre Trocme and his wife Magda, the villagers created a sanctuary network that saved between 3,000-5,000 p…
Wojtek the bear was the most extraordinary combatant of World War II. Born in the mountains of Iran in early 1942, he was purchased as a cub for a can of condensed milk and a pocketknife by a young Polish soldier serving with the 22nd Artillery Supply Company. The soldiers bottle-fed him and raised …
In the mountains of southern France, the Protestant village of Le Chambon-sur-Lignon stood against the entire machinery of the Nazi occupation. Led by Pastor Andre Trocme and his wife Magda, the villagers created a sanctuary network that saved an estimated 3,000 to 5,000 people — mostly Jewish child…
Wojtek the bear was adopted by the 22nd Polish Artillery in Iran. Enlisted as a Private with serial number and pay book, he carried 25-pound artillery ammo crates under fire at Monte Cassino. Became the official insignia. After the war lived at Edinburgh Zoo where Polish veterans visited with beer a…
In the Protestant mountain village of Le Chambon-sur-Lignon, Pastor Andre Trocme and his wife Magda created a sanctuary for 3,000 to 5,000 Jewish refugees. Magda hid people in bread ovens and cellar, serving tea to searching police. Schoolteachers forged documents. Farmers hid people in attics. When…
Polish officer and writer Tadeusz Borowski was arrested and sent to Auschwitz, where he survived by working as a medical orderly in the camp hospital. He wrote short stories on scraps of paper and in his head, memorizing passages so he could reconstruct them later. After liberation, he published 'Th…