Читать книгу Switzerland's Jura Crest Trail. A two week trek from Zurich to Geneva онлайн

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Stage 11 passes close to the Grand Risoux Forest in the Vallée de Joux. The forest presented the perfect natural border between occupied France and the freedom of Switzerland, offering an advantageous starting point for those wishing to flee from the Nazi occupation. Only a small 3ft-high drystone wall with Fleur-de-Lis decorating it separated the two countries, allowing Jews, allied service personnel and resistance fighters to enter neutral Switzerland.

Swiss ‘toblerones’, a frequent sight along the Jura Crest Trail and a reminder of recent Swiss military history

In 1940 up to 15 locals from the Vallée de Joux joined the Swiss Information Service (SR), part of the Intelligence Services, to set up a small group of passeurs, also known as smugglers, to organise, supervise and guide safe passage through the 200km of forest trails. One member, Frederic Reymond, a watchmaker who worked alongside resistance fighters and spies without hesitation, received the Yad Vashem medal of the Righteous Among the Nations after the war ended. Some passeurs, such as Bernard Bouveret, were not so lucky. A local man from Chapelle-des-Bois, Bouveret worked with Reymond to transport confidential documents regarding Nazi movements and microfilm to the British Embassy in Lausanne, and armaments to resistance fighters over the border in France. He was captured in 1944 and spent the rest of his war years in the German concentration camp, Dachau. Several passeurs were shot on sight.