The French town of Le Chambon-sur-Lignon, which sheltered Jews from Nazi persecution in the 1940s and 50s, received an inheritance from a Jew whose residents hid from Nazi deportation to death camps..
Eric SchwamAustrian citizen Eric Schwam, who died at the age of 90 in December 2020, bequeathed a significant amount to Chambon-sur-Lignon, a small village in the south of France with a population of about 2,500 people.
Although the exact amount has not been disclosed, the mayor claims that the village has received a “generous inheritance.” According to France 3 TV channel, the previous head of the town administration suggested that the amount of the inheritance could be about 2 million euros.
According to the BBC, Eric Schwam came to Chambon-sur-Lignon with his grandmother and parents in 1943. The whole family then had to leave their home in Vienna to escape Nazi persecution and deportation to death camps.
For a period of time, family members were in the French prison camp Camp de Rivesaltes. They later escaped to Chambon-sur-Lignon.
Upon arrival in the French village, the Schwam family hid in the local school building until 1950. This decision helped them avoid being sent to a death camp on the orders of the Vichy regime, the French fascist government that collaborated with the Nazis.
The mayor said that Mr. Schwam’s generous donation will go to fund scholarships and youth organizations in the village.
According to The Guardian, the residents of the town at one time took in more than 2,500 Jews in their homes and sheltered them from the genocide of the 40s.
Fascists in Le Chambon-sur-Lignon
Later, the leadership of the museum and the national memorial of the Disaster and Heroism of Yad Vashem in Israel paid special attention to the heroic merits of Chambon-sur-Lignon, and the village was awarded the honorary title “Righteous among the Nations of the World”, awarded to representatives of the non-Jewish nation who risked their lives to save Jews during the Holocaust.
In 2004, former French President Jacques Chirac officially celebrated the heroism of the residents of the town.
Chambon-sur-Lignon continues to shelter refugees from political persecution to this day. Migrants from Kosovo, Rwanda and Chechnya have found refuge here.
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