56

This paper highlights how individual and collective memories grasp the extent of the dreadful epic story experienced by Jewish refugees during the 1940–1944 years. It adds to and questions the preceding studies of the “refuge” undertaken by the historians of the Cevennes Mountains. A survey of close family members and witnesses living in the area touched by these events demonstrates the difficulty of grasping memories of daily life. This paper follows the slow elaboration and accumulation of memories and highlights the role of post-war generations in this elaboration. The author herself is involved in that very process, but manages to maintain the distance required by any scientific research.