THE MEMOIRS OF ANDRÉ TROCMÉ

Everyday heroism.

Trocmé (1901-71) was a French Protestant pastor who aided in the saving of Jewish families during the German occupation of France in the 1940s. His memoir, written in French in the 1950s and ’60s, records not only the heroic actions of his community but also the complications of Protestant life in a largely Catholic country. Trocmé’s activities grew out of a larger commitment to Christian pacifism and conscientious objection, a tradition central to a strain of French religious leadership in the 20th century. These memoirs tell a story of spiritual growth, framed in the landscapes of world war and social upheaval. Trocmé makes much of how the First World War drew him out of his “childhood apathy.” He illustrates how the ironbound traditions of French education fostered a culture of obedience that often led to military and political conformity. He writes vividly of everyday life that few American readers know. His wars and worries play themselves out in village streets and church aisles. Families and classmates build communities of belonging. He always tried to “stick to my beliefs.” And yet, “I feared my own weakness.” With the advent of the Second World War, Trocmé reflects on the nature of moral choice. “We do not decide to be nonviolent or truthful in advance as if we had an outline, a moral blueprint to follow automatically. Events appear almost always as a series of little, unexpected problems we must solve one at a time. We choose between two alternatives, one of which, in the final analysis, appears closer than the other to the laws of Jesus Christ. In that moment, one is sure of nothing.” Trocmé’s story, available in English here for the first time, teaches us how to act when we are sure of nothing.

A unique addition to the literature of ethical action during the Holocaust.