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André Trocmé was born in Saint-Quentin-en-Tourmont to a large and prosperous upper-middle class and Protestant family. His mother, Pauline Schwerdtmenn, passed away when Trocmé was ten due to an automobile accident, leaving him to be raised by his distant but demanding father. André's father, Paul Trocmé, was a wealthy curtain manufacturer. His upbringing was sheltered and strict, but he faced reality when the First World War reached his hometown. During this period of time, Trocmé was only thirteen as he watched soldiers struggle through the streets after battle. In 1916 he saw the the trains carrying soldiers bodies to the crematoriums of the South. Trocmé became aware of the notions of identity and loyalty as his family was split between his mother's German heritage and his half-French brothers.

His views on pacifism came to fruition when he met a young soldier. They spoke a great deal, and the young soldier told him about the ideals of non-violence, influencing Trocmé greatly. The young soldier was killed in battle later on, and Trocmé took pacifism more seriously. When his hometown was bombed in 1917 by the Germans, he and his family were evacuated to southern Belgium as refugees. This gave Trocmé an understanding of what it meant to be poor, contrast to the wealthy life he had been accustomed to.

The Trocmé family moved to Paris, France shortky after the end of the First World War. He began studying at the Faculty of the Protestant Theology as well as at Sorbonne. Trocmé's convictions of nonviolence and Christian socialism were deepened here as he studied the Bible. He met many students like himself, including Edouard Theis, who later joined Trocmé in Le Chambon. Trocmé's studies were inturrupted due to mandatory militay service (1921-1923), which Trocmé did not oppose begause he wanted to experience the service time in Morocco. Upon returning from the military he joined the French wing of the International Fellowship of Reconciliation along with several of his friends from university. In 1925 he was offered a one-year bursary designated for young French theologians by the Union Theological Seminary in New York. It was there that Trocmé worked as a tutor for the children of John D. Rockefeller Jr. as a way to pay for his expenses abroad. Trocmé met Magda Grilli, a Russian-Italian woman who had come to New York to learn Social work and escape the confines of her home.

Magda Trocmé

Magda Elisa Larissa Grilli di Cortona was born on November 2, 1901, in Florence, Italy. Her father was an Italian born of Florentine nobility and was distant to Magda due to the death of his wife, Magda's mother. Magda's mother was a Russian woman who died shortly after giving birth to Magda. Magda's new step-mother head attempted to put Magda into a Catholic school while in elementary school, but Magda could not outwardly conform. Magda preffered to make up her own mind rather than follow the "ready-made" opinions of others. Even marrying a Protestant pastor did not change her skepticisms of religion.

From a young age, Magda was interested in social work. In 1925, Magda attended the New York School of Social Work at Columbia University by scholarship. It was here in New York that Magda and André met.

André Trocmé married Magda Grilli in 1926. They had four children: Nelly, Jean-Pierre, Jacques, and Daniel. Trocmé's first post as a pastor was at Maubeuge in northern France, a town heavily destroyed by the Great War. Conscientious objection was a forbidden matter among pastors, though this did not stop Trocmé from supporting those of the town who refused conscription. This reflected Trocmé's pacifism, which was not highly regarded in the Protestant faith. The family stayed here for seven years, but by 1932 the dusty, polluted air began to take a toll on them. While in search of a new parish, Trocmé was turned down by the first two he had applied to. The third, Le Chambon, was more open to pacifists and admired his great faith.

In 1938, Pastor André Trocmé and Reverend Edouard Theis founded the Ecole Nouvelle Cévenole, which later became Le Collège-Lycée Cévenol International, in Le Chambon-sur-Lignon. Its initial purpose was to prepare local country youngsters to enter the university. When the refugees arrived, it also took in many Jewish young people wishing to continue their secondary education.

When France was overrun by Nazi Germany in 1940, the mission to resist the Nazis became increasingly important. Believing in the same ideas as former Pastor Charles Guillon, André and Magda Trocmé became very involved in a wide network organizing the rescue of Jews fleeing the deportation efforts of the Nazi implementation of their Final Solution. Following the establishment of the Vichy France regime during the occupation, Trocmé and other area ministers serving other parishes encouraged their congregations to shelter "the people of the Bible" and for their cities to be a "city of refuge."