Later History of St. Donat

WWI was extremely devastating to France and there is not a single town that remained untouched. Every village (town, city) has some type of monument commemorating the people who perished. Depending on the town it might be, for example, a plaque in a church, a statue or obelisk in the city center, or an engraved wall. St. Donat has an engraving inside the Collégial that lists the names of about one hundred who lost their lives fighting. Sadly, many of the last names were listed two or three times, which shows how much suffering some families endured. St. Donat was not all that big, so the loss of about a hundred men meant the majority of the population was gone.

The memories and scars were probably all but gone as they began to rebuild physically, mentally, spiritually...then the invasion began.

Link to Resistance and Deportation Museum (in English)

Around this region, there are towns that were key to orchestrating the French Resistance during WWII, such as Lyon (where we lived before) that was proclaimed by DeGaulle to be the center of the Resistance. Walking around the town, Mark told us a bit of what he has learned about St. Donat's role in the Resistance.

Louis and Elsa

St. Donat, as a town, was part of the Resistance network and hid refugees and resistance leaders. Among the noted leaders who found refuge in St. Donat are Louis Aragon (scolar, poet, author) and Elsa Triolet (married Aragon February 28, 1939). Sound familiar from an earlier post? Mark and Mary's guest house is La Maison Aragon, named so for having sheltered Louis and Elsa! St. Donat was invaded June 15, 1944 with the goal of finding Louis and Elsa. But, Louis and Elsa had just enough warning they were able to escape out a third floor window (hard to explain without a picture, but the third floor window is at ground level) and flee safely to the mountains. 





The blue sign is a street sign indicating the name of this street is Rue de la Résistance.

This sign says Place de l'hôpital des maquisards. During the war, the building was a pharmacy which made it a good front for Resistance activity. Injured resistance fighters were sheltered and tended to in the make-shift hospital in the rooms above the pharmacy.



 

 A street in town named after a doctor who died in combat. He was awarded the highest medal of honor the French award.