David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits, and the Art of Battling Giants

Giving the straight-armed fascist
salute to the Vichy regime was, to
Trocmé’s mind, a very good example of
“obedience contrary to the orders of the
Gospel.” He and his co-pastor, Édouard
Theis, had started a school in Le
Chambon several years earlier called
the Collège Cévenol. They decided that
there would be no flagpole and no
fascist salutes at Cévenol.
Vichy’s next step was to require all
French teachers to sign loyalty oaths to
the state. Trocmé, Theis, and the entire
staff of Cévenol refused. Pétain asked
for a portrait of himself to be placed in
every French school. Trocmé and Theis
rolled their eyes. On the one-year