Talk to Examine the Complexities of Jewish Rescue

Marianne Robins, Westmont professor of history, reflects on the rescuers of Jews in a French region near the town Le Chambon in a lecture, “Doing Justice to the Righteous: Christian Rescuers of Jews During the Holocaust,” Monday, March 5, at 7 p.m. in Hieronymus Lounge at Westmont’s Kerrwood Hall. The Paul C. Wilt Phi Kappa Phi Faculty Lecture is free and open to the public.

During the Holocaust, the French people of Plateau Vivarais-Lignon took a stand, quietly shielded thousands of Jews from the Nazis, especially children. The actions of these remarkable people have inspired many books and movies. The rescue features prominently in the Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C., and in 2009, President Barack Obama included it in a speech for the national commemoration of the Days of Remembrance.

Robins’ research shows there were many factors why the people of Plateau Vivarais-Lignon acted so selflessly. “I’ll provide missing historical context and point out the complexity of the situation as a departure from the iconic story of the documentary,” Robins says. “You can’t reduce it to a moralistic axiom.”

Robins, a native of France, has taught at Westmont since 1996. She earned a master’s degree and doctorate at the University of Paris 1-La Sorbonne. She has written two books in French, “Christians and Dance in Modern France,” and “Words of the Gospels: Four German pamphlets of the 1520s.”