Why A Fresh Perspective on the German Occupation of France Provokes Reflection

 By Donna Wichelman

In June 2026, I returned to a series on World War Two I began in the spring of 2024. It's my desire now to reprise the series over the next months, as it is a topic that has fascinated me most of my life, listening to my parents talk about the era.

In October 2023, I had the privilege to interview several survivors from WWII: a gentleman and three lovely ladies. In June, I recalled the interview with René Avril, who passed away at the beginning of 2025. Today, I want to first honor Madame Marie-José Delage, who also sadly passed away in April 2025, and then flash back to the interview with Madame Delage and her friend Madame Pierrette Couillandeau, who told us much about their lives during the German occupation in Libourne, France.

It was through the husband of a very good friend of mine that I learned of Madame Delage's passing. He shared with me a ten-page document of her professional contributions as a professor emerita at Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts and a patrologist who was a scholar of the history, life, and writings of the early Christian Church fathers. This included analyzing texts and studying ancient languages from the first to the eighth centuries C.E. Her study of particular interest and a specialty she became known for was the Life of Saint Caesarius of Arles, who lived from 470 to 542 C.E and served as Bishop of Arles in the sixth century. 

Marie-José Delage, Donna's Gallery, October 2023

Though I had known Madame Delage led a full and illustrious life, I hadn't understood the extent of her contribution to intellectual and religious communities around the world. It made me even more grateful for the opportunity to interview her about her life during the occupation. Her contribution to my research can't be overstated. I've used many of her thoughts and material for my novel. But even more poignant is the resounding question regarding her life and the lives of many others that must be asked: what would have been lost to the world if Adolf Hitler had had his way?

Thankfully, her story lives on in this blog and the pages of the book I'm writing.

In some ways, said Madame Delage and Madame Couillandeau, as children, they understood little of what occurred in June 1940 when the Germans occupied their community of Libourne. But their lives had been changed nonetheless.

Donna with Mme Marie-José Delage, October 2023: Donna's Gallery

Madame Pierrette Couillandeau and Madame Marie-José Delage pointing to a bullet hole in their building from the war: Donna's Gallery, October 2023

Madame Delage was on holiday (vacation) with her mom and aunts in Arcachon, a popular seaside resort on the Atlantic coast fifty-five kilometers (thirty-four miles) southwest of Bordeaux. Someone came to say there was a call for her mother. When her mom took the call, Madame Delage's father said they must return home immediately if they wanted to see him, because he'd been recalled to serve in the French military. In the end, they met in Bordeaux.

Madame Delage's father had served in World War I in the artillery department and came back wounded and with what we would call today, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Like so many servicemen before and after him, he never spoke of his experiences; he couldn't.

So when the French military recalled Madame Delage's father to the service, he was shocked. Though they didn't send him to the front, they posted him in Pottier, several hours north of Libourne, to be a guard in charge of the station there. After the Germans occupied France, the German Army sent him to a factory near Bergerac, where they made gunpowder.

German Soldier Stationed in Libourne, Libourne City Archives

Tragically, the experience proved to be Madame Delage's father's undoing. He rang his wife to say he was escaping to Canada, and they would never see him again; she never did.

Life continued as usual in Libourne for Madame Delage and Madame Couillandeau. They played as children, their families doing the best they could to survive the terror that had struck France and the rest of the world. The Germans set up a puppet regime under Marshal Philippe Pétain's Vichy government. A Nazi flag flew on the Libourne Town Hall. All the while, German guards were posted at various stations across town and near the demarcation line into Free France twenty kilometers away.

Nazi Flag on Libourne Town Hall, Libourne City Archives

German troops in Libourne meant the townspeople didn't have enough to eat since German soldiers requisitioned the crops, and everyone else got the leftovers. But Madame Delage and Madame Couillandeau's families found a solution to their hunger. A family they knew in a nearby town whose children attended school in Libourne had taken in children from the north whose families sent them away early on to escape the Germans. Between all the children, they were able to partition the rations. They also bartered with one another for various other needs.

One of the most difficult hardships for French families was how husbands were snatched from their families, leaving the wives to manage on their own with their children. Wives might receive letters once a month and then didn't hear from their husbands for quite some time. The neighbors would postulate that the husband was dead, but then another letter would appear in the post box. They just didn't know if the day would arrive when their husband wouldn't come home.

While it was never easy to know who fought for the Resistance, many ordinary people resisted in their own ways. One lady had a grocery shop. When the Germans came in to buy food, she would play with them, slicing their cheese thinly or saying she couldn't hear them. Another woman managed to help Jews escape over the line of demarcation. Clandestine networks worked everywhere to help Jewish families hide in their homes or escape across the demarcation line.

French Resistance the Day after Liberation, Libourne City Archives

Madame Delage knew someone who had heard of a German soldier stationed near the demarcation line who was also a Benedictine monk. A compassionate man, he helped Jews and others escape into Free France. At one point, the monk came between a young person and their parents and paid for his compassion with his life.

Many anecdotes exist of those who helped at risk to their own lives. "These people who we viewed as ordinary people," Madame Delage said, "turned out to be heroes."

Indeed, when liberation finally came to Libourne on 29 August 1944, the Germans retreated, but not before they blew up a central bridge over the Dordogne River and killed eight people. Still, in the midst of the chaos, the celebrations commenced the next day. Flags flew, garland hung on balcony railings and windows, and people crowded onto the Place Abel Surchamp, Libourne's city square, as the Libournais clamored and cheered the Resistance troops who had fought the good fight for the long-awaited day. 

Today, that day is still remembered all across France and celebrated on VE-Day--Victory in Europe Day--May 8th every year. 

Bridge Blown Up by the Retreating Germans, Libourne City Archives

Donna is an Angel Book Award-winning author of Historical Romance for A Song of Deliverance. Book Two in the Silver Singing Mine series, Rhythms of the Heart, was released in November 2025. Weaving history and faith into stories of intrigue and redemption grew out of Donna's love of travel, history, and literature as a young adult while attending an international college in Wales, U.K. She enjoys developing plots that show how God's love abounds even in the profoundly difficult circumstances of our lives. Her stories reflect the hunger in all of us for love, belonging, and forgiveness.

Donna was a communications professional before becoming a full-time writer. Her short stories and articles have appeared in inspirational publications. She has two indie-published romantic suspense novels, Light Out of Darkness and Undaunted Valor, in her Waldensian Series. 

Donna and her husband of forty-one years participate in ministry at their local church in Colorado. They love spending time with their grandchildren and bike, kayak, and travel whenever possible.