Dr. Christopher Thomas,
Reynolds history professor, led a discussion on what it means to be a resistor
and what it means to be a collaborator recently at the
Around the World through Books program at Reynolds.
Using the context of
women in the French resistance movement described in the book A Train in
Winter, by Caroline Moorehead, Dr. Thomas invoked a solemn thoughtfulness
among the audience as he described the death camp where 230 women were
deported, the hierarchy of prisoners, and the underground activities that
brought about their arrests.
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| Cornelia Warmenhoeven (L) |
But it was special guest
Cornelia Warmenhoeven who captivated the listeners' feelings. Mrs.
Warmenhoeven, now 89 and living in Midlothian, explained with quiet but intense
simplicity the duty and danger she felt as a young resistance worker in
the Nazi-occupied Netherlands. She told of saving men and boys who were hunted by
the Nazis, of carrying them on her bicycle to places where they could hide in
safety, and of escorting Allied soldiers through dark, patrolled fields at
night to waiting rescuers. She told of her grief when things went wrong, and of
her great relief when word came that an escaped soldier had gotten away safely.
World War II and German
concentration camps may be relegated to history, but the ethical issues of
compassion, compliance, and complicity will always be worth considering.
