When the Cost of Sacrifice Makes Heroes Out of Ordinary Men and Women

By Donna Wichelman

In December 2023’s Heroes, Heroines, and History Blog, I began a series based on the lives of three women and one gentleman from Libourne, France, whom I interviewed about growing up during World War II. I will always consider hearing their first-hand accounts of what it was like to experience life during wartime in France a great privilege.

In this final blog dedicated to Rene Avril, Pirrette Couillandeau, Marie-José Delage, and Josette Melinon, I want to focus on the spirit of perseverance that would not give in to the enemy at their door. Though most of my friends were young, among them were friends, family, and neighbors who remained steadfast in their resolve to win back their country and their freedom, even at the risk of their own lives. As Madam Delage said, “They were people we viewed as ordinary but turned out to be heroes.”

Resistance Groups Wait as the Crowds Gather in Libourne Celebrating Liberation, August 1944
Compliments of Libourne City Archives 

The Resistance Marching at the Liberation of Libourne, August 1944
Compliments of the Libourne City Archives

The Salute of the Flag Just Raised at Town Hall

Compliments of the Libourne City Archives

The Resistance (Maquis in French, meaning “underbrush”), as they called themselves, came from all walks of life, forming networks, hiding precious art reserves, and rescuing men, women, and children from extermination. They hailed from the farmer down the road who passed Jewish men, women, and children across the demarcation line into Free France to the wine baron in Bordeaux who transported Jewish men and women in empty barrels of wine across the border. He was an uncle from Brittany who spied on the Germans in Lorient only to be executed for treason and a mother in a hospital who hid Jewish children under a table covered with sheets. She was a lady who owned a grocery store and shorted German soldiers of food and supplies, and several ladies who hid Jews in their homes until they could get them safe passage. He was a German Benedictine monk whose compassion got him killed for allowing Jewish people to cross the demarcation line and a father who asked a priest to counterfeit a Catholic baptismal certificate to save his Jewish daughter.

Barrels of Wine

Photo 47598059 | Wine Barrels © Natalia Volkova | Dreamstime.com

Josette Melinon's Mother Caring for Patients at Rothchild Hospital While Hiding Jewish Children
Mme Melinon's Archives

Citizens of Libourne Fly Flags at Windows as the Red Cross Poses For their Picture

Compliments of the Libourne City Archives

Arrival of the Demorny Resistance Group After Liberating Castillon in South Dordogne
Compliments of the Libourne City Archives

Rose Valland Hiding Precious Works of Art
Donna's Gallery, May 2023

Mme Melinon as a Three Year Old and Her Father
Compliments of Mme Melinon's Archives

Josette's  Baptismal Certificate
Compliments of Mme Melinon's Archives


Donna with Mme Josette Melinon Today

Donna's Gallery, October 2023

Msr Rene Avril Whose Uncle Spied for the Allies
Donna's Gallery, October 2023

Pirrette Couillandeau and Marie-José Delage Pointing to a Bullet Hole in Mme Delage's Apartment Building
Donna's Gallery, October 2023

A Local Store in France, Not Much Different than A Store in the 1940s
Donna's Gallery, October 2023

Others sabotaged railways, organized escape routes, circulated anti-German fliers, published underground newspapers, sent messages over the radio waves, and planned stealth attacks. Over and over, we hear the stories of bravery and sacrifice despite the risks, even unto death. But why? Who were these heroes? What could possibly motivate anyone to save another at the cost of their own life?

There must be a higher purpose or a more compelling reason to sacrifice, especially for one not of your race or religion. One could say national pride or political freedoms. But in the last blog, we discovered that in a climate of scarcity of resources, some people took advantage of the circumstances, and a black market arose. A few gave up their Jewish neighbors to get a morsel of food. Some who wanted to avoid doing Compulsory Work Service (STO) in Germany joined the Resistance. The Apostle Paul says in Romans 5:7, “For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person, one would dare even to die …” (ESV).

Today, the question of sacrifice falls deeply upon my heart, because it’s Memorial Day weekend in the United States—a day we remember those who gave their lives to secure our country and our freedoms. My father served on a Navy troop transport ship during World War II from 1942 – 1946. Like most people who come home from war, he didn’t like to talk about what he saw, especially during the liberation. Yet, he believed his sacrifice was worth it for the sake of those who fell prey to the whims of a madman.

Donna's Dad, Joseph Chonko, 1942

Studying history not only helps us understand how events unfolded, making our world the way it is today, but it teaches us about ourselves—the character and mettle we’re made of. It also helps us understand where we succeeded or failed and allows us to think critically about how to make better choices. Sadly, we are a country divided in many ways, but the question of sacrifice is still significant to ponder for future generations.

One answer can be found in the book of Luke in the Bible. When a lawyer asks Jesus, “Who is my neighbor?” Jesus answers with the parable of the Good Samaritan. As the story goes, three men—a priest, a Levite, and a Samaritan—walk by a robbed and severely beaten man, but the only one who stops to help him is the Samaritan. Jesus asks the lawyer, “Which of these three do you think proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell into the robbers’ hands?” And he said, “The one who showed mercy toward him.” Then Jesus said to him, “Go and do the same” (Luke 10:30 – 37, NASB 1995).

Addressing his disciples in the book of John, Jesus said, “This is My commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:12 – 13, NASB 1995).

What would you do if a madman in a time of war knocked at your neighbor’s door and you had the power to help him?

How the Nazi Occupation of France Devastated Lives in Libourne

By Donna Wichelman

For the last several months, I've been writing a series on the Nazi occupation of France during World War Two. Based on the accounts of three lovely ladies and one gentleman alive as children during the war—Mme Pierrette Couillandeau, Mme Marie-José Delage, Mme Josette Melinon, and Msr René Avril—we've talked about how the Nazi occupation devastated their lives and the lives of their families.

In some ways, said Mme Delage and Mme Couillandeau, as children, they understood little of what occurred in June 1940. But their lives had been changed nonetheless.

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

Mme Pierrette Couillandeau and Mme Marie-José Delage, October 2023: Donna's Gallery

Mme 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, Mme 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.

As explained in a previous blog post, Mme Delage's father had served in World War I in the artillery department and came back wounded and with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Like so many before and after him, he never spoke of his experiences; he couldn't.

So when the French military recalled Mme Delage's father, he was shocked. Though they did not send him to the front, they posted him in Pottier 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

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

Life continued as usual for Mme Delage and Mme Couillandeau in Libourne. 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 the 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 Mme Delage and Mme 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 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 a while. 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

Mme 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," Mme 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 Abe Champ Square as the Libournaise clamored and cheered the Resistance troops who had fought the good fight for the long-awaited day.

Bridge Blown Up by the Retreating Germans, Libourne City Archives

 Donna worked as a communications professional before turning to full-time writing. Her short stories, essays, and articles have appeared in various inspirational publications. She has two indie-published Christian contemporary suspense novels in her Waldensian Series, Light Out of Darkness and Undaunted Valor. Her historical romance, A Song of Deliverance is under contract and will be published in December 2024. She is also working on a World War Two historical slip-time project.

Weaving history and faith into stories of intrigue and redemption grew out of her love of history and English literature as a young adult while attending the United World College of the Atlantic--an international college in Wales, U.K. She loves to

explore peoples and cultures of the world and 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, forgiveness, and redemption in a world that often withholds second chances. You can find out more about Donna Wichelman or sign up for her newsletter at www.donnawichelman.com  

What Lessons Can We Learn From History: A Real-Life Story from Nazi-Occupied France, Part II

 By Donna Wichelman

(Part II of a two-part article on the Raffle of the 10th of January 1944 in the Gironde, France. See Part I From February 4th, 2024.)

In February, the first of a two-part article appeared about the Raffle of the 10th of January 1944 in Nazi-occupied France. This past 10th of January marked the 80th Anniversary of the event—something most of us find difficult to talk about because it’s so horrific. This two-part article is the story of one Jewish woman’s survival during one of the darkest times in our world’s history and how she has redeemed the abomination of the past.

Mme Josette Melinon Donna, October 2023, Donna's Gallery

Mme Josette Melinon was only three years old when the French Vichy government, in collaboration with the German-occupied forces, rounded up 335 Jewish men, women, and children in the Bordeaux region. Two days later, 317 people were sent to Drancy Internment Camp outside of Paris and then deported to Auschwitz a few weeks later. Most of Josette’s extended family were part of that group, including her grandmother Kami and Kami’s brother.

Mme Josette Melinon as a young child & her Father: Mme Melinon's Archives 

Kami’s brother was married to a Catholic wife, which gave his wife and children status as Catholics since religious affiliation was passed down through the mother’s side. Her brother retained Jewish status since his mother was Jewish. That meant that Kami’s brother, along with most of Josette’s family were interred at Drancy.

Kami’s brother had a skin disease, so his daughter (a Catholic) traveled by train to Drancy to take care of him. The Germans toyed with them, saying she could stay with her father if two people volunteered to be set free. But, of course, the Germans kept those volunteers’ papers so they could arrest them again later. Unfortunately, despite her Catholic status, his daughter’s decision led to internment at Auschwitz with her father. Many families were lost that way. They would try to discover what happened to their relatives, but then the Germans would take them away as well.

Another cousin was expecting a baby at Drancy. When it came her time to deliver, they sent her to Rothschild Hospital. But she never saw her baby.

In February’s blog post, we learned that Josette’s mother had also been taken to Drancy. But her story took a different turn while interned there. You see, part of the cruelty the Germans imposed was a system by which they determined who would be sent to Auschwitz. Identity papers were marked with an A, B, C, or D. No one knew what the letters meant except the Germans. Those deported to Auschwitz had Bs by their names.

Jewish Indentification Papers: Mme Melinon's Archives

Josette’s mother’s paper had been marked with a B. But someone had done a good deed and crossed out the B and wrote an A. This meant that she would not be deported but instead would be a prisoner, working as a nurse at the Rothschild Hospital mostly in the children’s ward. It would be a pivotal role for her.

The Germans came to the hospital every Saturday to check on who had gotten better and who had died. Josette’s mother became part of a Resistance group that hid the children, telling the soldiers they were dead or too sick with an infectious disease to be released. Then they would shuffle the children off to families or hide them under tables covered with sheets if there wasn’t enough time to get them out.

Mme Melinon's Mother (Middle): Mme Melinon's Archives

At the liberation of Paris, Josette’s mother helped members of the Resistance when they were injured or shot down in the streets. Afterward, when she finally came home, she rarely talked about her experiences except with a cousin.

Despite most of Josette’s family being deported, one relative did escape. He was Josette’s cousin Myriam Errerra’s younger brother Enri. When officials came to take the family away, he was in the house upstairs and didn’t move. He quickly got out of the house and walked along the roof until he could get down and find some friends he knew. They put him on a train away from the trouble. Though guilt haunted him for years, the fact that he could get away meant he could help others in the Resistance.

Myriam and Enri Errerra as Children: Mme Melinon's Archives

Though Enri found friendships in the Resistance, his son related to Josette that they always put him in the most dangerous places. They’d say, “He’s just a Jew,” a sign that even within the ranks of those fighting to win the war, racism wasn’t far from their doorstep.

Enri Errerra and His Wife as an Adult: Mme Melinon's Archives

Fast-forward sixty years to 2004 when a teacher in Libourne took their middle school class to see an exhibition of Jewish children deported to Auschwitz, and one of those children deported came from Libourne. It was because of the class’s heartfelt desire to understand the past that Josette Melinon became passionate about creating a foundation named after her cousin called the Association Souvenir Myriam Errera. The Association not only provides educational resources on the Jewish Holocaust, but it’s also a way to memorialize those who died.

Since the inception of the association, a local school has been named after Myriam Errerra. Josette travels to the community schools each year to speak about what happened, and the classes have a unit that addresses racism and anti-Semitism. In addition, every year, Libourne has a calendar of events that commemorate the Jewish Holocaust as well as the liberation of Libourne on 28 August 1944. See Libourne Local Newspaper

Libourne Schedule of Commemoration Events: Mme Melinon's Archives

Libourne Commemoration Event: Mme Melinon's Archives

Libourne Brochure of School and Community Commemoration Events: Mme Melinon's Archives

Libourne Brochure of School and Community Commemoration Events: Mme Melinon's Archives

After hearing Josette's story, I asked her what she would say to the younger generation today about that time in history. She said she tells them it's important to realize not everything they hear in the media or online is the truth. Look at the people who followed Hitler without questioning what they were being told. It's the same with fake news today. Analyze what you see and hear and test it to see if it is true. Especially given how AI has invaded our world, I would have to agree with Josette.

I leave this blog with a letter from Myriam's father on their way to Auschwitz in February 1944. He threw it out the train window with the hope someone would find it and deliver it to her grandfather: 

We’re going away from Drancy today towards Metz and we will be in Dresden or Czechoslovakia. We send you back the money we have, because they took away all our money, jewels, the food we had in cans, they took 810 francs… the rest was saved as you can see. We’re 60 people in the carriage ... Everyone in families, thank goodness. There are quite a lot of people who are ill. Happily, until now we’ve been saved from this. The stay in Drancy was not too bad. We hope this war will soon end. We don’t know where we stay or if this letter and its contents comes to you. Thank God, because I suppose afterward you will not get any news and we won’t get out of this to get them to you. I hope you have as much courage as we do, because our courage here is magnificant to see, and our morale is excellent. We regret all our beasts [animals] that we’ve left behind. We hope that Marcel and you will take care of our little cat…Courage and come back soon. We kiss you hundreds and hundreds of times.

Leonce Errerra 

Letter Written by Leonce Errerra to His Family in February 1944: Mme Melinon's Archives

Donna worked as a communications professional before turning to full-time writing. Her short stories, essays, and articles have appeared in various inspirational publications. She has two contemporary suspense novels in her Waldensian Series, Light Out of Darkness and Undaunted Valor available on Amazon.com. Her historical romance, A Song of Deliverance, will come out in December, published by Scrivenings Press. She is also working on a World War Two historical slip-time project that takes place in Libourne, France.

Weaving history and faith into stories of intrigue and redemption grew out of her love of history and English literature as a young adult while attending the United World College of the Atlantic--an international college in Wales, U.K. She loves to explore peoples and cultures of the world and 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, forgiveness, and redemption in a world that often withholds second chances. You can find out more about Donna Wichelman or sign up for her newsletter at https://donnawichelman.com/