With the help of the
Oeuvre de Secours aux Enfants,
an organization that helps children,
you make contact with Robert Gamzon. This hero of the Jewish resistance
has specialized in getting Jews into Switzerland and other countries where
they will be safe from the Germans. A loose network of Jewish fighters is
able to help you move from safe house to safe house, working your way
southeast through France. Your major route is from Paris to the capital
city of Orleans and then through the Loire Valley to Lyon.
You are hidden in the wine cellar of a famous restaurant in Lyon. During the day, you are relatively safe because few people come in to eat. At night, however, large numbers of German officers dine there, and at any moment one of them could insist on seeing the wine cellar. You and your hosts empty a large wine cask into which you can quickly crawl if you hear the door opening during the evening hours. In fact, you use this hiding place several times quite successfully,
Crossing the border into Switzerland has become too dangerous; the Germans
are watching all the routes. Gamzon meets with you and suggests two
alternatives: you can stay in Lyon, hidden in the home of sympathetic
Catholic widow, or, if you prefer, you can travel west, crossing through
the forests of Correze into the province of Dordogne. In this area, the
Organization Juive de Combat,
the Jewish Fighting Organization, can
provide much better protection.
If you choose to remain hidden in Lyon, continue to page 151.
If you decide to travel west, continue to page 152.