Through evocative displays and audiovisual presentations, this museum paints a vivid picture of an extraordinarily resilient wartime community. Residents of Le Chambon-sur-Lignon played a courageous role during WWII, sheltering thousands of refugees, including hundreds of Jewish children, from deportation by the Nazis. Supplemented by bilingual French and English information panels, the museum uses light, sound and sculpture to tell the story of residents' non-violent resistance.
Local legend states that a total of 5000 people were saved during WWII, one for every resident of Chambon at the time. Precise figures remain elusive, but 3000 is thought to be the likely minimum.
Allow time for the ground-floor testimonial room, where you can settle in front of a screen for powerful first-hand accounts of people who hid in Chambon, or helped others hide.