Poignant tale of a French village that saved Jewish children

In the late 1930s, some 400 Jewish children came to Chabannes, a tiny agricultural village in the corner of France that literally defines the word "provincial." Some came from orphanages, many were German refugees as young as 2 years old, and most never saw their parents again.

"The Children of Chabannes" is a nonfictional version of the film "Au Revoir Les Enfants" that documents the two and a half years when the children were integrated into a town that was, as one survivor noted, "not so much isolated, as insulated."

"Children" was recently released on DVD.

Like recent films about the Kindertransport, this documentary presents the story through the eyes of historians, educators and surviving resistance fighters, as well as several of the former children. One of these rescued grew up and produced a daughter, Lisa Gossels, who in turn produced and narrates this heartfelt film.

One of the many things this film has going for it is the fabulous scenery of the remote village in Creuse, France — bucolic, a little "abandoned" in the words of one of the film's subjects.

"The Children of Chabannes" is quite educational without being patronizing. Among countless Holocaust films, this one by far has the most cogent explanation of the Vichy government's collaboration with the Nazis.

What is touching is that it focuses on a remarkably positive story without being sugar-coated or naive. The heroes are the teachers as well as the small village's 300 denizens, many of whom had never seen a Jew, yet cooperated in keeping these children fed, clothed and educated.

The film's heart is the poignant reminiscences of the kids, the teachers and several Righteous Gentiles, like school head Felix Chevrier.

"The Children of Chabannes" recreates the actual stories through first-person testimony, a spectacularly preserved journal of the school, letters and the art the kids made (all available on special DVD "extras"). There are several reenactments of the daily activities as well (e.g. mushroom-hunting, escaping rats and training in athletics, which foreshadows the kids preparing to one day having to, perhaps, literally run for their lives).

The viewer also gets glimpses of subsequent tragedies. Wolfie — the tallest, strongest, most charismatic and athletic of the students, survived deportation and 13 concentration camps. Now living as a beaten-down survivor in Israel, his interview is by far the most touching.

By and large, however, this is a collage of a fascinating story of hope, courage and kindness shown by a simple village in France who defined themselves as "republicans" in the truest sense of the word, who believed in doing the "right" thing in the name of France and the French concept of "Liberté, Equalité et Fraternité."

"The Children of Chabannes" — who "were happy by day and ... cried at night" — does not skirt the issue of what led these children to France in the first place, but it also sheds light on hope in the dark days of war.

In the words of one of the educators, the children of Chabannes were given "shelter, food, order, schoolwork and an atmosphere of kindness, without which there can be no childhood."




"The Children of Chabannes" is available on DVD (Docurama. $26.95).