Trocmé, André (1901–1971)

André Trocmé was the pastor of a Reformed church and spiritual leader of the small southern French village of Le Chambon-sur-Lignon. During World War II, inspired and led by Trocmé, the villagers of Le Chambon and the surrounding Plateau Vivares-Lignon rescued approximately 5,000 Jewish and other refugees from the Nazis.

In 1934, the Trocmés arrived in Le Chambon. Trocmé sought to counteract the air of fatalism that inhabited the area by appealing to the residents' Huguenot heritage and starting a school focused on preparing local residents for university through a classical curriculum, including training in Christian nonviolence.

Resistance began as soon as France fell to the Germans. Trocmé and his parishioners refused to give the Nazi salute or to ring the church bells in homage to Marshal Pétain. Beginning in 1940 the first Jewish refugees, mostly children, began arriving in Le Chambon. Working with and funded by the Quakers, Trocmé and the villagers provided refuge for thousands and aided them in crossing to safety in Switzerland.

After the war, Trocmé continued his work for peace through nonviolence in a variety of ways. He served for a decade as European secretary of the International Fellowship of Reconciliation and was active in reconciliation and development efforts in Algeria and Morocco. His last years were in parish ministry in Geneva. He died in 1971.

Trocmé, his wife, coworkers Edouard and Mildred Theis, and 30 other villagers and eventually Le Chambon-sur-Lignon itself were recognized as Righteous Gentiles by Yad Vashem.

Trocmé and the work of Le Chambon-sur-Lignon residents are important pieces in any mosaic of peace and justice activism. He preached, wrote about, and lived what he called the nonviolent revolution of Jesus, lest innocent blood be shed.

Trocmé's commitment to nonviolence was one of active engagement with evil, recognizing the inevitability of, even necessity for, conflict. Trocmé's active nonviolence is less a matter of not killing and more a matter of showing compassion, of being part of a healing community. Trocmé's message and method was an ethic of rescue. In his view, saving Jews was more important than resisting Vichy and the Nazis.