Hallie - Lest Innocent Blood Be Shed

Review questions

Prelude

1. What did Hallie want to find out about Le Chambon?

2. What are the similarities and differences between the resistance practiced by the people of Chambon and "La Resistance" by French guerrillas?

Chapter 1

2. Why did Magda Trocme feed the men who came to arrest her husband?

3. What distinction did the villagers draw between disobeying the law and causing

evil/harm?

What historical experience helps explain why they made this distinction?

Chapter 2

4. In the early days of the faith, becoming a Christian involved renunciation of one’s class, state-sponsored violence, and even one’s family. In what ways and to what extent did Trocme make the same journey?

5. As he grew, Trocme realized he was both pacifist, and possessed of violent energies. Is there room for a violently emotional person in the Kingdom of God?

Chapter 3

6. What is good and what is evil to the pacifist? Where are these good and evil to be found?

It has often been debated whether Jesus taught non-resistance to evil, or non- violent resistance. What is the difference? And to which was Trocme committed?

7. Chambon was located in the "Unoccupied Zone". In what ways did this make life for the Chambonnais both safer but morally more difficult? (85f)

Illustrate with the visit of Lamirand (99f).

8. Why is it important to start resisting evil early on, for Trocme? (92f)

Chapter 4

9. The Nazis successfully obscured their policy of liquidating Jews and other undesirables behind a "Nacht und Nebel" (night and fog) of propaganda. How did the Chambonnais effectively avoid being taken in? (103f)

10. How did the villagers cope with the first sweep for Jews? (107f)

Was it important to the success of their strategy that their resistance had begun earlier, with the symbolic act of refusing to salute the flag?

Chapter 5

11. Is it true that there can be no neutral position, no moral disconnect, when a situation of need arises? (124)

Chapter 6

12. Both Andre and Magda exerted considerable moral pressure on those around them—especially their children. They could be indignant, even explosive (145-150, 155-157). How do such temperaments square with the pacifism they believed in? (see also 265-266)

13. One of the top leaders in the Reformed Church demanded that Trocme stop helping the Jewish refugees, arguing that he was exposing Chambon and the whole church to great risk (143). Is that an overriding argument? How could Trocme respond?

Chapter 7

14. In the waning days of the war, the Maquis (French resistance) protected Chambon by force of arms (183-184). Would Trocme have consented to such protection? (Hallie does not comment.)

15. From the activities of Trocme and other figures such as Father Chaillet (186), one of the most important functions of a pastor or priest in World War II France seems to have been to "awaken the French conscience". Is this function important in the contemporary American context? Should it be?

16. During four years or more, some 3000 Jewish refugees were hidden in Chambon; many then were spirited on to safety in Switzerland. Not one was ever turned in. In explaining this remarkable unity, Hallie reflects upon how the work of protecting the refugees was organized. Who was in charge? How was it done? Why was it successful? (172-174; 195-200)

Ours is an "information society", where data flow through electronic arteries. How did information flow in Chambon? What is the relation between Christian love and deception?

Would such a strategy be possible in a culture reputed to be as individualistic as ours?

Chapter 9

17. Were you surprised when Trocme decided to flee in the face of a credible threat to his life?

18. Consider the moral dilemmas he faced when encountering German guards. Should these even have been dilemmas?

Chapter 10

19. Yet another kind of Christian. What is the link between personality and the kind of ethic of pacifism which LeForestier and Trocme shared?

Chapter 11

20. During the final months of the war, the isolated hills of Chambon became infected with killing and dying—including the accidental suicide of one of the Trocme’s children. How did Trocme interpret this event (257)?

To put the question most forcefully, what do you need to believe about God’s governance of the world in order to sustain a pacifist attachment to human life?

Chapter 12

21. Why can’t the French and German forces which sought to destroy life be brought to trial for violating what Hallie calls "life-and-death ethics"?

22. How can we know if someone is good, according to Hallie? What kinds of law has she or he internalized, as a basis for action? (277-283)

Epilogue

23. Would you agree with Luigi Hallie’s observation that the story is essentially simple, and not at all perplexing? (288-290)