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

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Locals Anne-Marie Piguet and Victoria Cordier worked together to transport German and Austrian Jewish orphans between Champagnole in France, through the Risoux Forest to the safety of Zurich during the last two years of the war. The journey for the orphans started at the Chateau de la Hille near Toulouse, 700km away.

Numerous routes were formed throughout the forest to prevent the Nazis from tracking the passeurs from the several garrisons near the border. Many of the routes can still be traced today. Locals would purposely make random routes in the snow and in the undergrowth to make it more difficult to monitor and control the passage of escapees. The Nazis patrolled the French side of forest throughout the day and night, firing without warning if anyone was found within the 2km forbidden zone at the border.

Once over the border, the guided group would rest and recover from the long, difficult journey at one of two wooden huts deep in the forest: L’Hôtel d’Italie and Le Rendezvous des Sages. From here, the passeurs would turn back and return to their homes before dawn, leaving the escapees to continue the 10km journey from the border before they could register and remain in internment camps for illegal foreigners, within the safety of Switzerland.