The Children of Chabannes

The 1999 Emmy Award-winning documentary from notable director Lisa Gossels, THE CHILDREN OF CHABANNES tells the story of the over 400 Jewish children who fled to France from 1939-1943 to avoid Nazi concentration camps. As World War II began, many parents made the excruciatingly difficult decision to separate from their children in order to save them. Some of those children lucky enough to escape Germany were shipped off to the Ch̢teau de Chabannes, a public school and dormitory located in an insulated region of rural France and created to house and educate orphaned and displaced Jewish children. The school was established by a man named F̩lix Chevrier. He was joined by a handful of remarkably brave and selfless educators who gave these abandoned children, most of whom never saw their parents again, a chance to grow up. But as the Nazis advanced, World War II inevitably reached the doorsteps of the Ch̢teau in 1942, causing the teachers to risk their own lives in order to keep the children from being deported to death camps. Told through interviews with surviving teachers and students of Chabannes, including Gossels' father who attended the school, THE CHILDREN OF CHABANNES is a celebration of humanity and courage during one of the most tragic periods of our history. (In French and English with subtitles) РM.M.