Dr. Megan Koreman will be discussing her recent book, The Escape Line: How the Ordinary Heroes of Dutch-Paris Resisted the Nazi Occupation of Western Europe.
Between 1942 and 1945, a resistance network known as the Dutch-Paris Line smuggled Dutch Jews and others targeted by the Nazis south into France, via Paris, and then to Switzerland. This network eventually grew to include 300 people, expanding its reach into Spain. Led by Jean Weidner, a Dutch businessman living in France, they became one of the most effective resistance groups of the Second World War.
In addition to Jews, those it helped escape the clutches of the Nazis included resistance fighters, political foes, Allied airmen, and young men looking to get to London to enlist. As the need grew more desperate, so did the bravery of those who rose to meet it.
Using recently declassified archives, The Escape Line tells the story of the Dutch-Paris and the thousands of people it saved during World War II.