Arthur Lavergnat

Arthur LAVERGNAT with his wife Jeanne operated at a place called "Pierre-Grand", near Troinex (Geneva), a farm located on the edge of of the border between France and Switzerland.

Arthur was a market gardener born in the town of Bossey, in Haute-Savoie, where his father was the mayor,

At that time, many Jews tried desperately to cross into Switzerland, but the massive presence of German soldiers – but also of border guards – made the undertaking particularly perilous. Several corroborating testimonies reveal, however, that in defiance of the danger, and participating in a network set up by the priest Marius Jolivet, the couple of farmers smuggled about forty groups of Jews. In her post-war testimony, Rolande Birgy, a resistant who guided the Jews, recounts that more than once Arthur Lavergnat and his wife were not content to escort the unfortunate fugitives, but that they lodged them for a few days, until they can safely cross the border

The procedure seemed simple: cutting the barbed wire that ran along their farm, they then concealed the breach thus made with branches. When fugitives were announced, they went to wait for them but, if there were too many Germans around, they then warned the resistance agents in order to postpone the operation.

The farming couple took particularly high risks: certainly, this was the case with all the smugglers, but the fact that they lived along the border, they were particularly exposed. In addition, the German soldiers had set up an advanced post at the Château de Bossey, from where they could hear what was going on at the Lavergnat's and even fire, the breach in the barbed wire being within range of their guns.

Arthur and Jeanne Lavergnat never knew, when they led the fugitives towards the border, if a German soldier did not hold him in his line of sight.