The Surgeon and the Shepherd: Two Resistance Heroes in Vichy France - Hardcover

Ostrum, Meg

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0803235739 ISBN 13: 9780803235731

Publisher: University of Nebraska Press, 2004

Synopsis

Of the thousands of people who escaped through the Pyrenees during World War II, at least one hundred owe their lives to a daring scheme that Belgian Charles Schepens masterminded in Mendive, a remote Basque village near the French-Spanish border. The story of this near-miraculous resistance effort, an epic undertaking carried out in plain view of the Nazis, is recounted in full for the first time in The Surgeon and the Shepherd, an incredible, true tale of wartime heroism.

In 1942, in coordination with the Belgian resistance, Schepens stage-managed a highly secret information and evacuation service through the counterfeit operation of a back-country lumbering enterprise. This book traces Schepens’s gradual transformation from an apolitical young ophthalmologist into double agent “Jacques Pérot,” and his emergence in the postwar period as a modern folk hero to the residents of Mendive. Woven into the account are the stories of a remarkable international cast of characters, most notably the Basque shepherd Jean Sarochar, regarded as a local misfit, with whom Schepens formed his most unlikely partnership and an enduring friendship.

Part biography, part spy tale, part cultural study, The Surgeon and the Shepherd is based on more than ten years of oral history research. The saga of a Belgian “first resister” who, by posing as a collaborator, successfully duped both the Germans and the local French Basque population, it offers a powerful and illuminating picture of moral and physical courage.

About this title

About the Author

Meg Ostrum is a museum professional and arts consultant based in Vermont who has worked in the heritage preservation field for more than twenty-five years. She has edited several documentary studies and collections of oral histories, including Visit’n: Conversations with Vermonters, an annual anthology published by the Vermont Folklife Center.

In 1942, in coordination with the Belgian resistance, Schepens stage-managed a highly secret information and evacuation service through the counterfeit operation of a back-country lumbering enterprise. This book traces Schepens s gradual transformation from an apolitical young ophthalmologist into double agent "Jacques Pérot," and his emergence in the postwar period as a modern folk hero to the residents of Mendive. Woven into the account are the stories of a remarkable international cast of characters, most notably the Basque shepherd Jean Sarochar, regarded as a local misfit, with whom Schepens formed his most unlikely partnership and an enduring friendship.

Part biography, part spy tale, part cultural study, The Surgeon and the Shepherd is based on more than ten years of oral history research. The saga of a Belgian "first resister" who, by posing as a collaborator, successfully duped both the Germans and the local French Basque population, it offers a powerful and illuminating picture of moral and physical courage.

Reviews

During a hiking trip in the French Pyrenees in 1983, Ostrum stumbled upon a remarkable story of resistance to the Nazis. Now, two decades later, Ostrum, an arts consultant who has edited volumes of oral history, relies on oral histories to assemble the story of Dr. Charles Schepens, a Belgian eye surgeon who left Brussels early in the war and joined the Resistance. He moved to the Basque country and, using the pseudonym Perot, rebuilt a saw mill that he used as a front to transport both cargo and people to safety in Spain. One of his fellow conspirators was Jean Sarochar, an eccentric shepherd known for his loquaciousness and his storytelling. The author recounts how the two (and others) worked as members of the Resistance and then, when their scheme was uncovered by the Nazis, worked to save Schepens's life. Ostrum shows how war makes strong friendships, and how people, whether considered by others to be strong (the surgeon) or weak (the shepherd) can rise to the occasion. Their compelling tale is only part of the story, as themes of class, modernity and deceit are handled gracefully by the author. Ostrum also focuses on historical background-of the players and of the Basque region itself. In essence, this is as much anthropology as it is history, but whatever one may call it, Ostrum has created a compelling work of 20th-century European history. It makes an unusual diptych with another dramatic tale of Belgian resistance, The Twentieth Train, by Marion Schreiber. 27 photos, 3 maps not seen by PW.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Edition details

• Publisher: University of Nebraska Press
• Publication date: 2004
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0803235739
• ISBN 13: 9780803235731
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 220