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Lest Innocent Blood Be Shed: The Story of the Village of Le Chambon and How Goodness Happened There
During the most terrible years of World War II, when inhumanity and political insanity held most of the world in their grip and the Nazi domination of Europe seemed irrevocable and unchallenged, a miraculous event took place in a small Protestant town in southern France called Le Chambon. There, quietly, peacefully, and in full view of the Vichy government and a nearby division of the Nazi SS, Le Chambon's villagers and their clergy organized to save thousands of Jewish children and adults from certain death.
Author Biography:
Philip Hallie was Griffin Professor of Philosophy at Wesleyan University, where he taught for thirty-two years. He died in 1994, leaving this manuscript. That it can now be published is do to the devotion of his wife, Doris Ann Hallie, who contributed an afterword. The foreword by John Compton, fellow philosopher and longtime friend of the author, will help the reader to understand this unusual document in the context of Hallie's life and thought.
303 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1979
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1968 people want to read
About the author
Philip Paul Hallie
10 books5 followersPhilip Paul Hallie (1922-1994) was an author, philosopher and professor at Wesleyan University for 32 years. During World War II he served in the US Army. His degrees were from Harvard, Oxford (where he was a Rhodes Scholar at Jesus College from 1949 to 1951) and Grinnell College. He studied and wrote on the nature of cruelty.
His best-known book was "Lest Innocent Blood Be Shed" (1979), which told the story of the French Protestants of Le Chambon-sur-Lignon, who provided a haven and safe passage abroad to 2,500 Jews during World War II.
His best-known book was "Lest Innocent Blood Be Shed" (1979), which told the story of the French Protestants of Le Chambon-sur-Lignon, who provided a haven and safe passage abroad to 2,500 Jews during World War II.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 159 reviews
November 8, 2018
The story of Chambon is incredibly moving ... my wife and I had the experience of visiting the village and feeling the powerful sense of "goodness" which still resides there. This town, in a remote part of France, led by the Huguenot pastor Andre Trocme, was the place of refuge for perhaps 2500 Jewish children, hidden and then moved on to safety.
NOTE: for more detail about Chambon, please see my review of Caroline Moorehead's "Village of Secrets: Defying the Nazis in Vichy France."
NOTE: for more detail about Chambon, please see my review of Caroline Moorehead's "Village of Secrets: Defying the Nazis in Vichy France."
December 25, 2017
When you are a reader (and if you talk about book frequently enough to make sure other people know it), life has a funny way of throwing books in your path. You become the subject of everybody’s recommendations, an unwitting borrower of other people’s books, and the thankful recipient of literary gifts during the holidays. This book is a case in point: I would probably never have read it had it not been lent to me by a long-time friend.
Though Hallie was a philosopher of ethics, he seemed pretty uninterested in abstract theories. As in so many other books, what is left out of this work is just as important as what made it in: gone are any statements about the abstract nature of ‘goodness’ and ‘justice’. The big-time philosophical schools of ethics—deontology, consequentialism, virtue ethics—are only mentioned in passing. What Hallie writes about instead are real people doing real things.
What people doing what things? Hallie concentrates his attention on Le Chambon-sur-Lignon, a Huguenot village in southern France. It is a poor, predominantly Protestant village, where much of the economy depends on tourism, situated high up in the Auvergne-Rhone Alps. What sets this quotidian locale apart from its neighboring villages is the people: almost the entire village cooperated to rescue fleeing Jews during World War II. This was done at considerable risk to themselves; and, indeed, some residents paid the ultimate price for their efforts. But remarkably, miraculously, they largely succeeded: probably thousands of Jews were saved.
So the question Hallie asks is this: What set them apart? Why did these poor villagers risk their lives to help others, when so many others refused to help? In other words, what went on to make the entire community such a paragon of ethical behavior?
In lieu of an abstract answer, Hallie offers us a portrait of André Trocmé and his wife Magda, the two leaders of the town's rescue efforts. André is protestant pastor, cast in the mold of all the great spiritual leaders of the past—a man with unswerving commitment to an ethical idea and seemingly limitless fortitude. His commitment to the Christian ideal of behavior is extreme: he refuses to harm even enemy soldiers, and refuses to lie to the authorities about his subversive activities. Any time he was asked if he was harboring Jews, he simply said yes; and every opportunity he had of reducing bloodshed—be it of Jews or of German soldiers—he pursued. His wife Magda is much more secular in her outlook; she believes that one should help others simply because it’s the right thing to do. If people need help, and ask for it, it’s your duty to give your all to help them—no questions asked.
So that is Part One of Hallie’s answer: ethical behavior is personal; it depends on specific individuals who take it upon themselves to help. But, clearly, if it was André and Magda alone who were attempting to save Jews, they wouldn’t have gotten very far; they needed help. And this brings Hallie to Part Two of his answer: history and community.
The village of Le Chambon was founded by Huguenots. This, as Hallie points out, probably contributed to their willingness to help: they, too, were descendants of a persecuted people. In any case, the economic and historical conditions of Le Chambon combined to create a people willing to help. In houses throughout the town, residents risked their own lives harboring Jews, spreading their already meager resources thin to support the refugees. The Chambonnais responded to the Trocmés' ethical impetus in kind: the animating spirit of André and Magda inspired the people of the village.
In his book Why We Can’t Wait, Martin Luther King, Jr. says “I have almost reached the regrettable conclusion that the Negro’s great stumbling block in his stride toward freedom is not the White Citizen’s Council or the Ku Klux Klanner, but the white moderate, who is more devoted ‘order’ than to justice… .” Philip Hallie makes a similar point. The people who stood by, not wanting to make trouble, were of no help in the crisis. The village of Le Chambon was not populated by moderates but, in a very real sense, extremists. It took extremists for helpfulness to reduce the damage done by extremists for harmfulness; or, as MLK said: “the question is not whether we will be extremists, but what kind of extremists we will be. Will we be extremists for hate or for love?”
André Trocmé’s unswerving commitment to nonviolence can be truthfully called radical. In a very real sense he was just as much a radical as was Hitler. Now, I would define a ‘radical’ as somebody who could not possibly be convinced that he was wrong; someone who is so unshakably sure of his rectitude that no argument could dissuade him. Thus, Trocmé and Hitler were motivated by convictions, not arguments. Hallie makes this point when he says:
This is, I think, what is at the root of Hallie’s distrust of ethical theories. For an ethical theory is a theory which attempts, through logical reasoning, to set up an objective guideline for an ethical action; the aim is to unambiguously decide what is ‘right’ and ‘wrong’, and come up with a test for judging a given action. This is the aim of both the categorical imperative and utilitarianism. Yet what use are these theories if they are not operative in the great ethical struggles of reality? If both Trocmé and Hitler, both the Chambonnais and the Nazis, were motivated, not by reason, but by a conviction, what use is the philosophy of ethics? In other words, the battleground of ethics is not in debate, but in action. Those who need convincing are those who sit by the sidelines.
According to Hallie, however, there is one simple test of ethical worth: do you consider life precious or not? Underneath all questions of duty, of virtue, of utility, of happiness, and of pleasure, this simple difference between those who want to help save lives and those who don’t is fundamental. But this conviction of the universal dignity of human life is not a proposition; it is a feeling, and, as a feeling, occupies a place in one’s psyche that is deeper than intellectual theories.
Hallie’s focus on personality, on culture, on history, on context, and on conviction leads him to write in a very different way than do most philosophers. For him, the proper way to write about ethics is not as Kant and Mill did—with theses that are proven with arguments—but as Dickens and Tolstoy did: with stories and characters. Most people simply don’t have time to play with ethical scenarios and with different theories; they need to act now, with limited information, and with limited means. And since we have to act now, our basic conviction—is human life precious?—is what determines the event.
This is exactly what the Trocmés and the Chambonnais did: they acted in the spur of the moment, with limited resources, solely on the conviction that all human lives are precious. Hallie would have us do the same.
Though Hallie was a philosopher of ethics, he seemed pretty uninterested in abstract theories. As in so many other books, what is left out of this work is just as important as what made it in: gone are any statements about the abstract nature of ‘goodness’ and ‘justice’. The big-time philosophical schools of ethics—deontology, consequentialism, virtue ethics—are only mentioned in passing. What Hallie writes about instead are real people doing real things.
What people doing what things? Hallie concentrates his attention on Le Chambon-sur-Lignon, a Huguenot village in southern France. It is a poor, predominantly Protestant village, where much of the economy depends on tourism, situated high up in the Auvergne-Rhone Alps. What sets this quotidian locale apart from its neighboring villages is the people: almost the entire village cooperated to rescue fleeing Jews during World War II. This was done at considerable risk to themselves; and, indeed, some residents paid the ultimate price for their efforts. But remarkably, miraculously, they largely succeeded: probably thousands of Jews were saved.
So the question Hallie asks is this: What set them apart? Why did these poor villagers risk their lives to help others, when so many others refused to help? In other words, what went on to make the entire community such a paragon of ethical behavior?
In lieu of an abstract answer, Hallie offers us a portrait of André Trocmé and his wife Magda, the two leaders of the town's rescue efforts. André is protestant pastor, cast in the mold of all the great spiritual leaders of the past—a man with unswerving commitment to an ethical idea and seemingly limitless fortitude. His commitment to the Christian ideal of behavior is extreme: he refuses to harm even enemy soldiers, and refuses to lie to the authorities about his subversive activities. Any time he was asked if he was harboring Jews, he simply said yes; and every opportunity he had of reducing bloodshed—be it of Jews or of German soldiers—he pursued. His wife Magda is much more secular in her outlook; she believes that one should help others simply because it’s the right thing to do. If people need help, and ask for it, it’s your duty to give your all to help them—no questions asked.
So that is Part One of Hallie’s answer: ethical behavior is personal; it depends on specific individuals who take it upon themselves to help. But, clearly, if it was André and Magda alone who were attempting to save Jews, they wouldn’t have gotten very far; they needed help. And this brings Hallie to Part Two of his answer: history and community.
The village of Le Chambon was founded by Huguenots. This, as Hallie points out, probably contributed to their willingness to help: they, too, were descendants of a persecuted people. In any case, the economic and historical conditions of Le Chambon combined to create a people willing to help. In houses throughout the town, residents risked their own lives harboring Jews, spreading their already meager resources thin to support the refugees. The Chambonnais responded to the Trocmés' ethical impetus in kind: the animating spirit of André and Magda inspired the people of the village.
In his book Why We Can’t Wait, Martin Luther King, Jr. says “I have almost reached the regrettable conclusion that the Negro’s great stumbling block in his stride toward freedom is not the White Citizen’s Council or the Ku Klux Klanner, but the white moderate, who is more devoted ‘order’ than to justice… .” Philip Hallie makes a similar point. The people who stood by, not wanting to make trouble, were of no help in the crisis. The village of Le Chambon was not populated by moderates but, in a very real sense, extremists. It took extremists for helpfulness to reduce the damage done by extremists for harmfulness; or, as MLK said: “the question is not whether we will be extremists, but what kind of extremists we will be. Will we be extremists for hate or for love?”
André Trocmé’s unswerving commitment to nonviolence can be truthfully called radical. In a very real sense he was just as much a radical as was Hitler. Now, I would define a ‘radical’ as somebody who could not possibly be convinced that he was wrong; someone who is so unshakably sure of his rectitude that no argument could dissuade him. Thus, Trocmé and Hitler were motivated by convictions, not arguments. Hallie makes this point when he says:
If you were to put those two eloquent men, André Trocmé and Adolf Hitler, in a comfortable room for any comfortable length of time to argue about the appropriate ethical judgment to lay upon the actions of the Chambonnais between 1940 and 1944, neither would persuade the other that his judgment was the final one; nor would they ever both acknowledge any court to decide conclusively between their conflicting judgments.
This is, I think, what is at the root of Hallie’s distrust of ethical theories. For an ethical theory is a theory which attempts, through logical reasoning, to set up an objective guideline for an ethical action; the aim is to unambiguously decide what is ‘right’ and ‘wrong’, and come up with a test for judging a given action. This is the aim of both the categorical imperative and utilitarianism. Yet what use are these theories if they are not operative in the great ethical struggles of reality? If both Trocmé and Hitler, both the Chambonnais and the Nazis, were motivated, not by reason, but by a conviction, what use is the philosophy of ethics? In other words, the battleground of ethics is not in debate, but in action. Those who need convincing are those who sit by the sidelines.
According to Hallie, however, there is one simple test of ethical worth: do you consider life precious or not? Underneath all questions of duty, of virtue, of utility, of happiness, and of pleasure, this simple difference between those who want to help save lives and those who don’t is fundamental. But this conviction of the universal dignity of human life is not a proposition; it is a feeling, and, as a feeling, occupies a place in one’s psyche that is deeper than intellectual theories.
Hallie’s focus on personality, on culture, on history, on context, and on conviction leads him to write in a very different way than do most philosophers. For him, the proper way to write about ethics is not as Kant and Mill did—with theses that are proven with arguments—but as Dickens and Tolstoy did: with stories and characters. Most people simply don’t have time to play with ethical scenarios and with different theories; they need to act now, with limited information, and with limited means. And since we have to act now, our basic conviction—is human life precious?—is what determines the event.
This is exactly what the Trocmés and the Chambonnais did: they acted in the spur of the moment, with limited resources, solely on the conviction that all human lives are precious. Hallie would have us do the same.
August 1, 2017
This is not your typical Holocaust-rescue adventure. It is written by an ethicist from that point of view, and so includes much discussion of how the individuals who led the refugee-rescue efforts in Le Chambon sur Lignon came to be the kind of people who are toujours prete a servir--always willing to serve, especially Pastor Andre Trocme and his wife, Magda. The willingness of the people of the village to house and care for Jewish and other refugees, at the risk of their lives and the lives of their families and loved ones, is amazing when one considers that other villages and groups who attempted the same thing were sometimes betrayed and destroyed. The story is not told chronologically or as a tale of one exciting moment after another, although there were exciting moments. The author's point of view differs from that of many chroniclers of attempted rescue in occupied France, and is of course a valuable addition to that literature.
October 27, 2015
A lovely, memorable story of a French village that displayed an unprecedented ethic of hospitality to refugees (especially to Jewish people) during the Occupation years of WWII. The book is written by an ethics professor who was intrigued by what happened in this small mountain community (the author himself is Jewish and so it was personal for him). The book centers on the Protestant pastor of the village, Andre Trochme and his wife Magda, and their commitment to non-violence. Though I do not share all of author's or characters' views of ethics or religious perceptions, I respect what they did and wish that I too could have such an ethic of hospitality.
May 19, 2025
Lest Innocent Blood Be Shed by Philip Hallie was not at all what I expected. In fact, had I known what it really was, I might not have picked it up—but I am so glad I did. What a thought-provoking book on ethics and goodness in wartime France.
“But isn’t it just a true story, something that happened, and don’t you simply admire the people of the village…” This question is posed by the author’s son at the end of the book, and the author responds affirmatively. But this isn’t just a story. While it’s full of exciting and deeply interesting accounts, it’s not told as a particularly engaging narrative. Instead, it’s a conversation—about what one village chose to do and why they chose to do it. It’s a look at personal conviction and how the boldness to stand up for what you believe can ripple outward and influence the lives of those around you. It’s also a look at humility, and at living passionately without being preoccupied with how profound it might seem.
I made many notes throughout the book, but one theme that stood out to me was the idea of doing things “in time”—that is, immediately.
From page 92: “He had learned that a choice had to be made in time—not ‘in due time,’ not languorously, but in time, now, when the hot chain of events had not yet hardened.”
This is illustrated throughout the book, and it’s a thought that will stay with me.
I found it interesting that while many in the village of Le Chambon were professing Christians, the author seemed to minimize that as the driving force behind their “why.” We walk through their fortitude, their bravery, their convictions, their grief, and their loneliness—but Christ never seems to be the sufficient answer.
A closing quote I found compelling:
“Those of us who have the luxuries of peace and retrospection have the time to examine moral judgments made in a time of crisis and great danger, but we dare not ignore the facts and the judgments that are evident in order to perplex our minds with endless arguments about what might have been. We must find what we can believe, understand it, and try to act upon it when the occasion arrives. I believe that we do not have time to mystify it. On matters of ethics we must see, understand, and choose our standards, or our lives are dark, though we may be patiently awaiting the light.”
“But isn’t it just a true story, something that happened, and don’t you simply admire the people of the village…” This question is posed by the author’s son at the end of the book, and the author responds affirmatively. But this isn’t just a story. While it’s full of exciting and deeply interesting accounts, it’s not told as a particularly engaging narrative. Instead, it’s a conversation—about what one village chose to do and why they chose to do it. It’s a look at personal conviction and how the boldness to stand up for what you believe can ripple outward and influence the lives of those around you. It’s also a look at humility, and at living passionately without being preoccupied with how profound it might seem.
I made many notes throughout the book, but one theme that stood out to me was the idea of doing things “in time”—that is, immediately.
From page 92: “He had learned that a choice had to be made in time—not ‘in due time,’ not languorously, but in time, now, when the hot chain of events had not yet hardened.”
This is illustrated throughout the book, and it’s a thought that will stay with me.
I found it interesting that while many in the village of Le Chambon were professing Christians, the author seemed to minimize that as the driving force behind their “why.” We walk through their fortitude, their bravery, their convictions, their grief, and their loneliness—but Christ never seems to be the sufficient answer.
A closing quote I found compelling:
“Those of us who have the luxuries of peace and retrospection have the time to examine moral judgments made in a time of crisis and great danger, but we dare not ignore the facts and the judgments that are evident in order to perplex our minds with endless arguments about what might have been. We must find what we can believe, understand it, and try to act upon it when the occasion arrives. I believe that we do not have time to mystify it. On matters of ethics we must see, understand, and choose our standards, or our lives are dark, though we may be patiently awaiting the light.”
February 3, 2023
“Naturally, come in, come in.”
“And Trocme had a practical belief, a belief that held out for him a promise of success: he believed that love-that feeling, thinking, and acting as if life is precious beyond all price-would manage to find a way to restrain what his notes call “diabolical forces like Nazism.”’
“[Trocme] believed that if you choose to resist evil, and you choose this firmly, then ways of carrying out that resistance will open up around you.”
“For them, human life had no price; it had only dignity.”
“And Trocme had a practical belief, a belief that held out for him a promise of success: he believed that love-that feeling, thinking, and acting as if life is precious beyond all price-would manage to find a way to restrain what his notes call “diabolical forces like Nazism.”’
“[Trocme] believed that if you choose to resist evil, and you choose this firmly, then ways of carrying out that resistance will open up around you.”
“For them, human life had no price; it had only dignity.”
July 16, 2020
During World War II a small French village saved thousands of refugees by hiding many in plain sight and conducting others to groups that could lead them across the Swiss border to safety. Hallie describes not only what the members of the village did but also explores why they did it. The leader of the effort was the Huguenot pastor, Andre Trocme, who through his sermons and charismatic presence called on villagers to be nonviolent resisters against the Nazis and the Vichy government t of France.
Hallie, a professor of Philosophy at Wesleyan University, interviewed many of the principal characters years after the war with the aim of discovering what compelled them to risk their lives and those of family members to save people they had never met. Many said that their actions were nothing special, simply what one does. Hallie notes the profound respect for human-ness that these people displayed and credits this fundamental care for all humans that underlies the heroic events that took place in Le Chambon.
Well worth reading in these turbulent times for its focus on the moral response to the threat of harm to fellow humans.
Hallie, a professor of Philosophy at Wesleyan University, interviewed many of the principal characters years after the war with the aim of discovering what compelled them to risk their lives and those of family members to save people they had never met. Many said that their actions were nothing special, simply what one does. Hallie notes the profound respect for human-ness that these people displayed and credits this fundamental care for all humans that underlies the heroic events that took place in Le Chambon.
Well worth reading in these turbulent times for its focus on the moral response to the threat of harm to fellow humans.
July 6, 2013
Two stars is generous; really, this book was kind of torture to read. It meanders; it claims to be a history but the author is not a historian (he's an ethicist, apparently) and it shows. Sample: "...under this tolerance many new Protestant sects flourished, the way blood rushes to a lacerated spot when a whipping has stopped."
While the book is a nice portrait of the Protestant pastor André Trocmé and his wife Magda, who risked their lives in a small French town during the Occupation to save several thousand Jewish refugees, particularly children, the actual facts are laid out much more clearly in other places.
March 30, 2021
4.5 I loved the combination of inspiring story along with a professor-like discussion on ethics mixed in. A non-violent “kitchen” based resistance?—what could resonated with me more?
March 13, 2021
Tells the story of the Huguenot citizens of the French village of Le Chabon that came together under the leadership of Pastor Andre Trocme to save the lives of thousands of Jewish refugees during WW2 under the Vichy regime. Why others chose not to do so is tragic; their resilience and simple understanding of the mandates of the Christian gospel is inspiring.
November 28, 2022
If you want 300 pages of meandering between half-baked thoughts look no further.
March 11, 2025
While the story of Le Chambon and their heroic efforts to provide a "city of refuge" for Jews is indeed powerful, and needs to be retold, this retelling wasn't it for me.
I was really slogging to get through this book; the moral claims seem overstated and Hallie's parallels and analogies tend to be ponderous and over-obvious.
Hallie seems to use the story of Le Chambon as an over-inflated foil for what could be good ethical statements, but I lost track of the helpful bits in the process.
I was really slogging to get through this book; the moral claims seem overstated and Hallie's parallels and analogies tend to be ponderous and over-obvious.
Hallie seems to use the story of Le Chambon as an over-inflated foil for what could be good ethical statements, but I lost track of the helpful bits in the process.
December 10, 2025
I am not sure how ethical it is to give this book 3/5 stars, was not covered in my ethics course. But, it would be a lie to give it 4/5 or 5/5, and lying is definitely not ethical.
October 3, 2008
About violent non-viloence. One has to read the book to understand this phrase. Given the way this world is today, and hey it hasn't been that peaceful in past times either, I recommend this book to everyone. Is there an alternative to the current mess, something that will really work? Maybe so if we start working on it NOW. Nothing works instantly, and even André Trocmé agreed that WWII was necessary. It was too late, war was necessary. Not being terribly religious myself, I mostly admired and could understand Magda Trocmé, André's wife. But they did what they did together and with all the other villagers of Le Chambon. Sometimes the book gets a bit oo "philosophical/analytical" for my tastes. Just give me the facts, don't analyze them for me. I agree with Magda's simple philosophy - you do what you have to do. Analysis is superfluous. Everyone should read this because it shows there is hope out there, if people can just cut away all the crap. This is a bit of an emotional response. Everybody should read this book - quite an eye-opener for sceptic me!
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April 12, 2009At a seminar on evil, a man who called himself the Decent Murderer argued that if there had been a thousand villages like Le Chambon, Hitler would never have been stopped. I agree with this: if there had been a thousand villages like Le Chambon, Hitler would never have gotten started in the first place.
Hitler personally only killed three people, including himself (some people argue for a fourth, but it was never proved). The others were killed by people who did what Hitler and his followers told them to do (reluctantly, willingly, or otherwise). If people in general had decided to take personal responsibility for the results of their actions, a lot fewer of them would've gotten caught up in the Nazi horror.
One of the points of Hannah Arendt's The Banality of Evil (I gather--never been able to slog through the thing myself) is that one of the main functions of bureacracy is to prevent people from taking responsibility. The Chamboinnais found another way--but it's not necessarily the only other way.
Hitler personally only killed three people, including himself (some people argue for a fourth, but it was never proved). The others were killed by people who did what Hitler and his followers told them to do (reluctantly, willingly, or otherwise). If people in general had decided to take personal responsibility for the results of their actions, a lot fewer of them would've gotten caught up in the Nazi horror.
One of the points of Hannah Arendt's The Banality of Evil (I gather--never been able to slog through the thing myself) is that one of the main functions of bureacracy is to prevent people from taking responsibility. The Chamboinnais found another way--but it's not necessarily the only other way.
July 11, 2013
I did not know this story until I read about it recently in another book. It is the true story of the villagers of Le Chambon in France who rescued hundreds of Jews from certain death during WW2. It describes what can happen when people are courageous enough to act according to their conscience. The pastor was one of those annoying, uncompromising people who in normal circumstances would not be the easiest person to live and work with. His wife, who did not share his faith, shared his commitment to affirming the dignity of every human being and to non-violent living. She was my favourite character in the book.
All round a very inspiring read.
All round a very inspiring read.
January 3, 2011
An inspiring book, still.
January 27, 2018
Compelling story, labored narrative.
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August 14, 2022Goodness, how do you review this one? It’s a tale of Goodness, of the faithful witness of a couple and their small village in France holding to a commitment of non-violence in the face of World War II. This should be included in pro-life readings. It’s a beautiful testimony.
There are little details that stir my personal passions—namely, the pastor’s “kitchen” ministry (going into congregant’s homes to know them personally) and the school he started to change a cold-hearted village into a generous hospitable one. Of course there are also difficult deaths, stories that made me gasp. But the Goodness shines brightly.
There are little details that stir my personal passions—namely, the pastor’s “kitchen” ministry (going into congregant’s homes to know them personally) and the school he started to change a cold-hearted village into a generous hospitable one. Of course there are also difficult deaths, stories that made me gasp. But the Goodness shines brightly.
March 5, 2020
This is not quite the book I expected, but there's a lot of good to reading about brave people doing dangerous things to save the lives of the persecuted.
February 21, 2013
First of all, I really love this book and would recommend it to anyone. However, it is a fascinating story made dull by philosophical musings that are repetitive and not terribly original. Not that it is bad philosophy, I just wish this story had been written by someone who was a story-teller first and a philosopher only when it adds to the experience. The entire population of a Protestant village in Vichy France steps up to save the lives of anyone who is threatened in WWII. They make themselves into a 'City of Refuge' and the numbers of people they succeed in saving is greater than the entire population. It is a marvelous story, and I only wish I hadn't often had to eke it out between the lines.
May 19, 2010
Part history, part philosophy, _Lest Innocent Blood be Shed_ studies one example of proactive non-violence and how such a stance fits into a moral hierarchy.
Essentially, a tiny village of French Protestants followed their pastor's lead and rescued a great many Jewish refugees (mostly children) while so many others stood idly by. Hallie explores the hows and whys of their bravery without pointing fingers at their less helpful neighbors.
Truth be told, this book has restored my faith in humanity. Now, when I hear additional evidence of "man's inhumanity to man" on the news and in history texts, I have this book to lean on. We all need something, yes?
Essentially, a tiny village of French Protestants followed their pastor's lead and rescued a great many Jewish refugees (mostly children) while so many others stood idly by. Hallie explores the hows and whys of their bravery without pointing fingers at their less helpful neighbors.
Truth be told, this book has restored my faith in humanity. Now, when I hear additional evidence of "man's inhumanity to man" on the news and in history texts, I have this book to lean on. We all need something, yes?
March 29, 2021
Hallie does a brilliant psychological profile of a small French community that took it upon themselves to save thousands of Jews from the Holocaust. Led by a Huguenot pastor, Protestants, atheists, and Catholics alike joined together to do the right thing. Years later, many of the people who acted were surprised when asked why they had done so. For them, it was just obviously the thing you had to do in the face of unspeakable evil. I cannot recommend this book enough.
February 2, 2023
I first came across the story of Le Chambon-sur-Lignon towards the end of Unspeakable: Facing Up to the Challenge of Evil by Os Guinness. After discussing the enigma of a good God in a world of appalling evil, Guinness turns the tables and relates the story of historian Philip Hallie. Now, having read this account, I'm not sure Guinness entirely got the story right. It's a charge that journalist Peter Grose in A Good Place to Hide: How one French community saved thousands of lives in World War II levels in turn against Hallie, whom he claims has made many mistakes in this account.
Hallie describes the centuries of persecution suffered by the Huguenots. The royal galleys of 18th France were manned by slave rowers whose only crime was being Protestant. In the Tower of Constance near Marseilles the women were left to die of starvation and cold or heat. The pastors and people of Le Chambon had been arrested by the king's dragoons and hanged or burned in the village or in a one nearby. (p25)
Within two weeks of the armistice between France and Germany in 1940, all manner of propaganda was released inciting hatred of Jews, Communists, Freemasons and the English. (p89)
André Trocmé learned the important of making a choice at the right time, not in due time, but at the critical one. In 1921, he had been with the French Army in Morocco, assigned to map-making. To his surprise he was given a gun and cartridges but, committed to pacifism, he left them behind in the army depository. Out in the desert, the lieutenant in charge noticed his lack of weapon and asked the reason why. When Trocmé explained, the lieutenant took him into his tent and explained to him about timing. He should have refused at the beginning, before coming out into the desert. His action had the potential to endanger the lives of the company because they were weakened by his lack of firearms in the face of any attack by bandits or dissidents. What Trocmé learned was that the ethical commandment against killing had to be obeyed as early as possible to be effective. Nonviolence could in fact increase violence if not chosen at the right time in the right way. (p92f) By refusing blind obedience to the government, the people of Le Chambon discovered that the government was trying to steal their consciences under the mask of loyalty. (p93)
The government of old France did everything possible to make the Huguenots abjure their faith. They destroyed temples, levied crushing fines, took children from their parents, imprisoned, worked to death, killed adults all for the purpose of making the people abjure their faith and follow the national religion. (p97)
The Nacht und Nebel (Night and Fog) policy of the Nazis about the death camps was successful in portraying them as a Zionist state in Poland for Jews. (p104)
During the planting of a tree for André Trocmé in Israel, one of the speakers said, 'The righteous are not exempt from evil.' Meaning: the righteous must often pay a price for their righteousness. (p126)
The meaning of the Provencal word maestral is masterly wind.
At the beginning of the Occupation, "deportation" did not mean destruction in an extermination camp, but rather forced labour. The Quakers were trying to save parents from deportation at this stage by issuing medical exemptions. If they could not do so, they made provisions for the children but it became increasingly hard to find people to take the children in. (p135) Quakers were always willing to speak truth to power. (p168)
Madame Eyraude had a boardinghouse of 14 boys, not all Jewish. Some had turned up with nothing because they had returned home from a factory and found police waiting to take him to a forced labour camp. (p177)
Albert Camus wrote The Plague in 1942 in an old granite house not far from Le Chambon. (p249)
The Tartar Legion (Asiatic-Russian prisoners captured on the Russian Front and given SS uniforms and trained to murder civilians without mercy) were sent into the Haute-Loire region after the Normandy landings by the allies. (p250)
Both French and Germans were utterly convinced of their own innocence and of the guilt of their adversaries, which justified any killing of "those guys there". The end of the war in France (though some of the Germans will thought that Hitler would save them with a new Blitzkrieg) made no difference: people were bent on killing each other because of their own innocence and the others' guilt. (p261)
Hallie describes the centuries of persecution suffered by the Huguenots. The royal galleys of 18th France were manned by slave rowers whose only crime was being Protestant. In the Tower of Constance near Marseilles the women were left to die of starvation and cold or heat. The pastors and people of Le Chambon had been arrested by the king's dragoons and hanged or burned in the village or in a one nearby. (p25)
Within two weeks of the armistice between France and Germany in 1940, all manner of propaganda was released inciting hatred of Jews, Communists, Freemasons and the English. (p89)
André Trocmé learned the important of making a choice at the right time, not in due time, but at the critical one. In 1921, he had been with the French Army in Morocco, assigned to map-making. To his surprise he was given a gun and cartridges but, committed to pacifism, he left them behind in the army depository. Out in the desert, the lieutenant in charge noticed his lack of weapon and asked the reason why. When Trocmé explained, the lieutenant took him into his tent and explained to him about timing. He should have refused at the beginning, before coming out into the desert. His action had the potential to endanger the lives of the company because they were weakened by his lack of firearms in the face of any attack by bandits or dissidents. What Trocmé learned was that the ethical commandment against killing had to be obeyed as early as possible to be effective. Nonviolence could in fact increase violence if not chosen at the right time in the right way. (p92f) By refusing blind obedience to the government, the people of Le Chambon discovered that the government was trying to steal their consciences under the mask of loyalty. (p93)
The government of old France did everything possible to make the Huguenots abjure their faith. They destroyed temples, levied crushing fines, took children from their parents, imprisoned, worked to death, killed adults all for the purpose of making the people abjure their faith and follow the national religion. (p97)
The Nacht und Nebel (Night and Fog) policy of the Nazis about the death camps was successful in portraying them as a Zionist state in Poland for Jews. (p104)
During the planting of a tree for André Trocmé in Israel, one of the speakers said, 'The righteous are not exempt from evil.' Meaning: the righteous must often pay a price for their righteousness. (p126)
The meaning of the Provencal word maestral is masterly wind.
At the beginning of the Occupation, "deportation" did not mean destruction in an extermination camp, but rather forced labour. The Quakers were trying to save parents from deportation at this stage by issuing medical exemptions. If they could not do so, they made provisions for the children but it became increasingly hard to find people to take the children in. (p135) Quakers were always willing to speak truth to power. (p168)
Madame Eyraude had a boardinghouse of 14 boys, not all Jewish. Some had turned up with nothing because they had returned home from a factory and found police waiting to take him to a forced labour camp. (p177)
Albert Camus wrote The Plague in 1942 in an old granite house not far from Le Chambon. (p249)
The Tartar Legion (Asiatic-Russian prisoners captured on the Russian Front and given SS uniforms and trained to murder civilians without mercy) were sent into the Haute-Loire region after the Normandy landings by the allies. (p250)
Both French and Germans were utterly convinced of their own innocence and of the guilt of their adversaries, which justified any killing of "those guys there". The end of the war in France (though some of the Germans will thought that Hitler would save them with a new Blitzkrieg) made no difference: people were bent on killing each other because of their own innocence and the others' guilt. (p261)
October 11, 2014
Wonderful account of how a small village in France served as a place of refuge for thousands of Jews, especially children, during WWII. The author wasn't the greatest storyteller, but it would have been difficult not to find this story compelling.
June 13, 2025
Mark Nation’s book about Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Discipleship in a World Full of Nazis: Recovering the True Legacy of Dietrich Bonhoeffer has an appendix that discusses the story of Le Chambon sur Lignon, a village in southern France, which became a refuge for Jews fleeing Nazi Germany, Nazi-occupied northern France, and other countries that fell to the Nazis in World War II. That’s how I first learned of André Trocmé, the Huguenot pastor of Le Chambon and the focal point of the story that is told in Lest Innocent Blood Be Shed.
The book focuses on André Trocmé, but it also gives the reader a vivid picture of Trocmé’s wife, Magda. The two of them, together with the people of Le Chambon, saw saving Jews as their Christian mission, a mission that grew out of Trocmé’s commitment to pacifism and nonviolence. Saving Jews also meant saving those who would destroy the Jews from committing a grievous wrong, thereby endangering their own souls.
Trocmé is also unusual and interesting in that he insisted on honesty even when dealing with those who sought to do him or the refugees in his care harm. He admitted to the Vichy authorities and to the Nazis who interrogated him that there were Jewish refugees in Le Chambon, but that he did not know who there were. At one point late in the story he was fleeing the Nazis, who were planning to assassinate him. He had an assumed identity and false papers, but he knew that, if he were asked his name, he would reply with his own name. Some, maybe many or most Christian ethicists would say that lying to protect his identity would have been an ethical action, but Trocmé had other ideas.
André Trocmé’s nonviolent approach to the problem of Nazi persecution of the Jews parallels those of his approximate contemporaries Mahatma Gandhi, who urged nonviolent resistance to British colonial rule in India, and Dietrich Bonhoeffer, who practiced nonviolent resistance to the same Nazi aggression that Trocmé faced. It prefigures the nonviolent resistance advocated and practiced by Martin Luther King, Jr. in the 1950s and 1960s. Together the success of the refugee shelter in Le Chambon, the German Confessing Church, and the the American Civil Rights Movement give me hope that peaceful protest and nonviolent resistance to antidemocratic forces in our country will ultimately succeed, although there may still be dark days ahead for American liberal democracy.
The book focuses on André Trocmé, but it also gives the reader a vivid picture of Trocmé’s wife, Magda. The two of them, together with the people of Le Chambon, saw saving Jews as their Christian mission, a mission that grew out of Trocmé’s commitment to pacifism and nonviolence. Saving Jews also meant saving those who would destroy the Jews from committing a grievous wrong, thereby endangering their own souls.
Trocmé is also unusual and interesting in that he insisted on honesty even when dealing with those who sought to do him or the refugees in his care harm. He admitted to the Vichy authorities and to the Nazis who interrogated him that there were Jewish refugees in Le Chambon, but that he did not know who there were. At one point late in the story he was fleeing the Nazis, who were planning to assassinate him. He had an assumed identity and false papers, but he knew that, if he were asked his name, he would reply with his own name. Some, maybe many or most Christian ethicists would say that lying to protect his identity would have been an ethical action, but Trocmé had other ideas.
André Trocmé’s nonviolent approach to the problem of Nazi persecution of the Jews parallels those of his approximate contemporaries Mahatma Gandhi, who urged nonviolent resistance to British colonial rule in India, and Dietrich Bonhoeffer, who practiced nonviolent resistance to the same Nazi aggression that Trocmé faced. It prefigures the nonviolent resistance advocated and practiced by Martin Luther King, Jr. in the 1950s and 1960s. Together the success of the refugee shelter in Le Chambon, the German Confessing Church, and the the American Civil Rights Movement give me hope that peaceful protest and nonviolent resistance to antidemocratic forces in our country will ultimately succeed, although there may still be dark days ahead for American liberal democracy.
April 8, 2023
This book is about a small town in southern France where people hid Jews from the Vichy officials and Gestapo during World War II. The book focuses mostly on Andre Trocme, a protestant pastor who was the moral leader of the town, and his family. Trocme was an energetic and creative pacifist who believed that he and the people of his town should do everything they could to save lives. He believed that they should save a person's life, regardless of one's own feelings about the person or the person's moral nobility. We should look at a person—whether they are Jewish, French, German, or whatever—as a person with "a spiritual diamond at the center of his vitality." This could lead you to hide Jews from German soldiers or feed German soldiers breakfast. He believed in a Christianity of aggressive love. In his autobiographical notes, he wrote, "A curse on him who begins in gentleness. He shall finish in insipidity and cowardice, and shall never set foot in the great liberating current of Christianity." I don't think he was against gentleness itself, but if being gentle is the bottom line, then the kind of Christianity you have is one that says, "Be warmed and fed," and stops there. To him, one should go beyond the negative commands found in places like the ten commandments, "Do not betray," "Do not hate," and "Do not murder," and actually do things to prevent betrayal, hatred, and murder. He saw Christianity as following Isaiah's positive commands: "Seek justice, correct oppression; defend the fatherless, plead for the widow." The people of Le Chambon put their own lives at risk and did extraordinary things to save lives in a really dangerous time.
The book is very honest. There are times when it seems like it would be really hard to live with Trocme because of his large personality. For instance, at one point when he disagrees with his wife, he throws a glass of water in her face. The book brings out very realistically how difficult it would have been to be a member of the family at that time. The book also stresses that the people in the town were just amateurs at saving lives, and they didn't always do the wisest things. Tragic things happened as a result.
The one difficult thing about reading the book for me was that it isn't presented in chronological order, which made it hard to piece the events together. It seemed more ordered by ethical ideas. Those ideas were grounded in very concrete episodes in the lives of the family and in the town though, and that made it very moving. One other weakness in the book is that the reader only hears about the Jews but doesn't get to know any of them. I would have liked to hear some personal stories from their perspectives.
The book is very honest. There are times when it seems like it would be really hard to live with Trocme because of his large personality. For instance, at one point when he disagrees with his wife, he throws a glass of water in her face. The book brings out very realistically how difficult it would have been to be a member of the family at that time. The book also stresses that the people in the town were just amateurs at saving lives, and they didn't always do the wisest things. Tragic things happened as a result.
The one difficult thing about reading the book for me was that it isn't presented in chronological order, which made it hard to piece the events together. It seemed more ordered by ethical ideas. Those ideas were grounded in very concrete episodes in the lives of the family and in the town though, and that made it very moving. One other weakness in the book is that the reader only hears about the Jews but doesn't get to know any of them. I would have liked to hear some personal stories from their perspectives.
January 6, 2023
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Lest Innocent Blood Be Shed by Philip Paul Hallie tells of Le Chambon, a small hamlet of Protestants in Vichy France who were helping Jewish refugees escape. Mr. Hallie is a professor of Philosophy, he left a manuscript of this book which was posthumously published.
The book tells of a small, but significant slice of history. The village of Le Chambon-sur-Lignon became part of a wide network to rescue Jews from the Nazi killing machine. The movement, led by Huguenot pastor André Trocmé and his wife Magda is credited with saving at least 2,000 persons. This is the second book I’ve read about the Le Chambon, Village of Secrets: Defying the Nazis in Vichy France by Caroline Moorehead was the first.
In a moving narrative, Lest Innocent Blood Be Shed by Philip Paul Hallie shows the goodness that people are capable of, as well as the bravery it takes to act upon that calling. I wasn’t too thrilled to find out the author was a philosopher, as I’m more interested in the actions of real people as opposed to high-brow abstractions. Luckily, so was Mr. Hallie who mentioned abstract virtues in passing, while concentrating on the astounding story of a whole village (almost), cooperating to rescue Jews during World War II at much risk to themselves and everyone they know.
Why did poor villagers who barely had enough to eat risk everything to help others? This was at a time when many refused.
Why, and how does an entire community gather together to work for a common goal in great peril?
Pastor Trocmé and his wife led the rescue effort, sticking to their ethical ideology unwaveringly and with fortitude. The Huguenots, with their history of persecution, were more than willing to help.
Focusing on personality, history, and culture, the book brings context to the conviction of Le Chambon which many find difficult to understand. Ethics, for Mr. Hallie, is not about abstraction, but about how people act when they are called up in the present, and whether the call to action is answered.
The people of Le Chambon answered quietly and their stories deserved to be told. Both André and Magda Trocmé were honored by Yad Vashem as Righteous among the Nations.
Lest Innocent Blood Be Shed by Philip Paul Hallie tells of Le Chambon, a small hamlet of Protestants in Vichy France who were helping Jewish refugees escape. Mr. Hallie is a professor of Philosophy, he left a manuscript of this book which was posthumously published.
The book tells of a small, but significant slice of history. The village of Le Chambon-sur-Lignon became part of a wide network to rescue Jews from the Nazi killing machine. The movement, led by Huguenot pastor André Trocmé and his wife Magda is credited with saving at least 2,000 persons. This is the second book I’ve read about the Le Chambon, Village of Secrets: Defying the Nazis in Vichy France by Caroline Moorehead was the first.
In a moving narrative, Lest Innocent Blood Be Shed by Philip Paul Hallie shows the goodness that people are capable of, as well as the bravery it takes to act upon that calling. I wasn’t too thrilled to find out the author was a philosopher, as I’m more interested in the actions of real people as opposed to high-brow abstractions. Luckily, so was Mr. Hallie who mentioned abstract virtues in passing, while concentrating on the astounding story of a whole village (almost), cooperating to rescue Jews during World War II at much risk to themselves and everyone they know.
Why did poor villagers who barely had enough to eat risk everything to help others? This was at a time when many refused.
Why, and how does an entire community gather together to work for a common goal in great peril?
Pastor Trocmé and his wife led the rescue effort, sticking to their ethical ideology unwaveringly and with fortitude. The Huguenots, with their history of persecution, were more than willing to help.
Focusing on personality, history, and culture, the book brings context to the conviction of Le Chambon which many find difficult to understand. Ethics, for Mr. Hallie, is not about abstraction, but about how people act when they are called up in the present, and whether the call to action is answered.
The people of Le Chambon answered quietly and their stories deserved to be told. Both André and Magda Trocmé were honored by Yad Vashem as Righteous among the Nations.
March 22, 2025
In the midst of all the chaos, violence, and bloodshed of World War II, a small protestant village in France, Le Chambon, offered peace and hope to thousands of targeted people in need of rescue. “Lest Innocent Blood Be Shed” tells the incredible story of this village, and it’s inhabitants and leaders who made it a place of refuge and such powerful love, and how they did so on a basis of nonviolence, compassion, and an overall indisputable opposition to harm and compulsion to help those in need.
I can already tell that this was a book that will stick with me for long into my life. It presented and proposed so many intriguing ideas on faith, motivation, and overall ethics that left me questioning and analyzing my own relationship with these things and what I perceive of them in the world around me. And the overall message of helping others is one that just resonated so strongly throughout the whole reading. All in all, just learning each given person’s story, seeing what they went through in the course of the events, is a very impactful, meaningful, and eye-opening experience.
In terms of the actual writing of the book itself, I have praise to give to aspects of this as well. I found the writing style of the book to be very engaging and enjoyable. It offered a lot of graphic imagery and description, which I feel greatly elevated the reading experience, giving the reader a vivid picture of the scene of the given event. Additionally, the overall chapter and section structure was not like any I’d seen before, and I was particularly fond of it and the mood I felt it gave to the book’s overall organization.
If I try to choose words to thoroughly describe the story and it’s effect, the main ones that come to mind are captivating, empowering, thought-provoking, inspiring, and at the end of it all, hopeful. In the end, I’d say this was a truly beautiful and impactful book that I very much enjoyed reading, and I would undoubtedly wish for anyone who is given the chance to read and experience it for themself as well.
I can already tell that this was a book that will stick with me for long into my life. It presented and proposed so many intriguing ideas on faith, motivation, and overall ethics that left me questioning and analyzing my own relationship with these things and what I perceive of them in the world around me. And the overall message of helping others is one that just resonated so strongly throughout the whole reading. All in all, just learning each given person’s story, seeing what they went through in the course of the events, is a very impactful, meaningful, and eye-opening experience.
In terms of the actual writing of the book itself, I have praise to give to aspects of this as well. I found the writing style of the book to be very engaging and enjoyable. It offered a lot of graphic imagery and description, which I feel greatly elevated the reading experience, giving the reader a vivid picture of the scene of the given event. Additionally, the overall chapter and section structure was not like any I’d seen before, and I was particularly fond of it and the mood I felt it gave to the book’s overall organization.
If I try to choose words to thoroughly describe the story and it’s effect, the main ones that come to mind are captivating, empowering, thought-provoking, inspiring, and at the end of it all, hopeful. In the end, I’d say this was a truly beautiful and impactful book that I very much enjoyed reading, and I would undoubtedly wish for anyone who is given the chance to read and experience it for themself as well.
July 16, 2022
We live in chaotic, turbulent times: a diabolic war destroys the beauty of Ukraine and its people; greed in corporations and government sponsors block life-saving means to save a dying planet; drought and death on the African continent continues; children are separated from parents and put in cages along borders; random violence headlines on a daily basis; human rights and choices denied by authoritarian minorities; and then there are Big Lies. So much evil. What is the average human to think but that life indeed is meaningless and nothing can stop evil.
For four years in the south-western Protestant French village of Le Chambon, World War II raged, Vichy governments succumbed to betrayal; and thousands of desperate Jewish refugees fled the East, traveling by rail through this site which willingly opened doors to help, heal, hide, and save. How did it happen that a whole village acted as one in conscious good action to help the unjustly persecuted, to not kill and not betray? How did it happen that people in a life and death existence rose to practice by providing shelter, food, education, and an "underground railroad" approach for the good, for life, for non-violence? just because they believed every human life is precious?
Perhaps, one of the most inspiring books of what humans are capable of being that I have ever read. This true history will encourage and inspire all readers.
For four years in the south-western Protestant French village of Le Chambon, World War II raged, Vichy governments succumbed to betrayal; and thousands of desperate Jewish refugees fled the East, traveling by rail through this site which willingly opened doors to help, heal, hide, and save. How did it happen that a whole village acted as one in conscious good action to help the unjustly persecuted, to not kill and not betray? How did it happen that people in a life and death existence rose to practice by providing shelter, food, education, and an "underground railroad" approach for the good, for life, for non-violence? just because they believed every human life is precious?
Perhaps, one of the most inspiring books of what humans are capable of being that I have ever read. This true history will encourage and inspire all readers.
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