Strangers in Our Midst: From Tolerance to Hospitality

Abstract

Introduction:  The experience of the people of Le Chambon, France during the Nazi occupation offers insight into an account of the hospitable response to strangers in our midst. The Chambonnais, at grave risk, opened their homes to Holocaust refugees, not only taking in, but welcoming approximately five thousand strangers, saved through their courageous efforts. Because of their compassionate response to the suffering of refugees, the Chambonnais were called to acts of hospitality. While most accounts of their efforts focus on their compassionate sheltering of these refugees, in this brief paper I explore specific aspects of their hospitable response. (A more extended discussion of tolerance is available in another paper on the topic.) The Chambonnais’ actions are worth our attention, for they exemplify what is required by hospitality, a virtue needed not only in dramatic circumstances in which strangers are at grave risk, but in the everyday interactions of strangers within local communities. The Chambonnais provide a way of understanding how we might move from a tolerant to a hospitable encountering of the cultural Other.