Magda and Andre Trocme: Resistance Figures

Magda Trocme (1901-1996) was the Italian-born wife of Reverend Andre Trocme (1901-1971), a French pastor deeply involved in the social gospel movement that saw Christianity embedded in progressive political struggles. Together, they worked heroically, and under dangerous circumstances, to prevent the deportation of thousands of people to Nazi concentration camps. Living in the small, mainly Protestant town of Le Chambon-sur-Lignon on the Plateau Vivarais-Lignon in southern France, Magda and Andre Trocme inspired a network of resistance to the Vichy regime’s deportation of Jews and would eventually be honoured as Righteous Among the Nations by the state of Israel. This book includes a mosaic of sermons, letters, published articles, diaries, and speeches from the war years, but also before and after, extending from the 1920s to the 1970s. The couple travelled widely after the war, meeting with the likes of Martin Luther King Jr, Indira Gandhi, Elie Wiesel, and Rosa Parks, and played an active role in movements for anti-colonialism, nuclear disarmament, and peace. Appearing for the first time in English, these texts have been selected by Pierre Boismorand, who offers bridging commentary and explanatory notes throughout. Through a diverse range of public, private, and autobiographical documents, the reader enters the heart of this remarkable couple’s motivations, hopes, and also their unfulfilled dreams. Andre and Magda Trocme lived through a troubled time with conviction, courage, and dignity - their writings provide a powerful example of an unyielding dedication to justice and peaceful resistance.