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

definitive history of Le Chambon, argues
that the town was protected at the end of
the war by Major Julius Schmehling, a
senior Gestapo official in the region.
There were also many sympathetic
people in the local Vichy police.
Sometimes André Trocmé would get a
call in the middle of the night, warning
him that a raid was coming the next day.
Other times a local police contingent
would arrive, following up on a tip
about hidden refugees, and treat
themselves to a long cup of coffee at the
local café first, to give everyone in town
ample warning of their intentions. The
Germans had enough on their plate,
particularly by 1943, when the war on